









JAXL^AItr. 1888. 

THE LEISURE-HOUR SERIES. 

A collection of works whose character is light and entertaining, though not trivial. 
While they are handy for the pocket or the satchel, they are not, either in contents or 
appearance, unworthy of a place on the library shelves, 16ino, cloth. per Vol. 


ABOUT, E. 

The Man with the bro- 
ken Ear. 

The notary's nose. 

AL.CESTIS. A Mtisical 

Novel. 

ALEXANDER, Wrm. 

THE WOOING O’T. 

Which Shall it Bh? 

, RALPH WILTON'S WEIRD. 
HER Dearest Foe. 

HERITAGE OF LANGDALE. 

Maid. Wife, or Widow! 
The Erekes. 

I,OOK HEFORE YOU LEAP. 
The admiral’s Ward. 

The Executor. 

A Second Life. 

At Bay. 

Heatons Bargain. 

BY Woman’s wit. 

FORGING 'I HE Hh' 

MONA’S Choice. 

AUERBACH, 

The Villa on t 

a vols. P&rO 

Bl.ACK forest 
The Little bar 

JOSEPH IN THE Si 
EDELWEISS. 

German Tales. 

ON THE HEIGHTS 

The convicts. 

LOKLEY and REl 
ALOYS. 

Poet AND merci 
Landolin. 

Waldfried, 

Brigitta, 

Spinoza. 

Master bielani 

BEERBOHM, 

Wanderings in 1 


I CONWAY, HUGH. 

j Called back. 

! Dark Days. 

I Bound together. 
j Carriston’s (^ift. IHustr . 
A Family Affair. 

Slings and arrow's. 

A Cardinal Sin. 

Living or Dead. 

CONWAY, M, D. 

I Pine AND Palm. 

! OORKRAN, ALICE. 

I BfissiE Lang. 

I COVENTRY, JOHN. 

j after His Kind. 

I CRAVEN, Mme. A. 

i fleurangh. 

CROFFUT, W. A. 

A Midsummer Lark. 

i nT!Tvmr!Y> A n V 


: GRIFFITHS, Arthur 

! Lola. 

1 GROHMAN,W. A. B. 

Gaddings with a Primi- 
tive PEOPLE. 

HARDY, THOMAS. 

Under the Greenwood 
Tree. 

A Pair of blue Eyes. 
Desperate Remedies. 

Far from the Maddin'g 
Crowd. Illus . 

Hand of Ethrlberta. 
Return of the Native. 
The Trumpet-Major. 

A Laodicean. Ilbtstraud . 
Two on a Tower. 

The Mayor of Casihr- 
bridge, 

HEINE, HEINRtCH. 

SCINTILLATIONS. 

rR. 


LIB RARY OF CONGR ESS. 





UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 


S OF IBICH- 

G. H. 

: A. M. 

RNIVAU 

A. W. 

Casket. 

[rs. C. 

Pays, 

o-Day. 

tAUPRH. 

GHTERS. 

1 . 

Rossiter. 

4S. 




BEERS, HENRY A. 

A Century of American 
Literature. 

BESANT, Walter, 

The Revolt of Man. 

BJORNSON, B. 

The Fisher-Maiden. 

BUTT, B. M. 

miss molly. 

Eugenie. 

ueucia. 

Geraldine Hawthorne. 

CADEL.L, Mrs. H* M. 

IDA CRAVEN. 

CALVERLEY, O. S. 

FLY-LeaVF.S. Verses . 

-CAVENDISH.” 

Card Essays, Clay's Decisions 
and Card Table Talk. 

CHERBULIEZ, V. 

J OSEPH NOIREL'S REVENGE, 
COUNT KOSTIA. 

Prosper. 


FOTHERGIL.L, JES- 
SIE. 

The First Violin. 

Probation. 

the Wellfields. 

ONE OF THREE. 

Kith and kin. 

Peril. 

Healey. 

Borderland. 

FUANCILLON, R.E. 

Under Slievh-Ban. 

FREYTAG, Q. 

INGO. 

INGRABAN. 

GAUTIER. T. 

CAPTAIN FRACASSH. Tllus . 

GIFT, THEO. 

Pretty Miss Beli.ew, 
Maid Eixice. 

A Matter-of-fact Girl. 
Victims. 

GOETHE, J. W Von. 

Elective affinities. 


mAY. 

THE HON. Miss ferrard. 
CHRISTY CAREW. 

LAWLESS, HON. 
EMILY. 

A Chelsea Householder, 
A Millionaire’s Cousin 
Major Lawrence, V . L. S. 

LINDAU, P. 

Klaus hewer’s Wife. 

LUCY, HENRY W. 

GIDEON FLEYCE. 

MACFARLANE.A.R. 

Children of the Earth. 

McClelland, m.g. 

OBLIVION. 

Princess, 
jean monteith. 

McGRATH, T. 

pictures from Ireland. 

MAJENDIE,Lady M. 

Giannetto. 

Dita 


1 


I 

„l 

Rt 

(□( 



LEISURE-HOUR SERIES. 


MARTIN, E. a. 

Whom -Gou hath joined. 
MAXWELL., CECIL.. 
A Story of three Sisters. 

MISS BAYLE'S 

ROMANCE. 

MOLESWORTH,Mrs 

HATHERCOURT. 

MOORE, THOMAS. 

The EncuRKAN. 

NORRIS, W. E. 

MATRIMONY. 

HEAPS OF MONEY. 

NO New Thing. 

MAJOR AND Minor. 

OLIPHANT, Mr». 

W MITEL A DIES. 

PALGRAVE, W. O. 
Hermann Agha. 

PARR, LOUISA. 

HERO CARTHEW. 

ROBIN. 

LOYALTY GEORGE. 

PLAYS FOR PRI- 
VATE ACTING. 
POYNTER, E. r. 

MY Little Lady. 

Ersii.ia. 

AMONG THE HlLI-S. 
MADAME DE PRESNEL. 

RICHARDSON, S. 

Clarissa Harlowe, iCcn - 

densed,) 

RICHTER, J. P. F. 

Flower.Fruit.and Thorn 
Pieces. 2 vols. 

Campaner Thal. etc. 
Titan. 3 vols. 

Hesperus. 2 vols. 

THE Invisible lodge. 


(Continned..) 

ROBERTS, Miss. 

NOBI.ESSE oblige. 

On the edge OF Storm. 

IN THE Olden time. 

SCHMID, H. 

The Habermeister. 

SERGEANT, ADEL. 

Beyond Recall. 

No Saint: 

Roy’s Repentance. 

SHAKESPEARE, W. 

complete Works. 7 vols. 
SIME, WM. 

The red Route. 

SLIP in the FENS, A. 
SMITH, H. and J. 

Rejected addresses. 

SPARHAWK, F. C. 

A Lazy Man’s Work. 

SPIELHAGEN, F. 

What the Swallow sang. 

SPOFFORD, H. P. 

The Amber Gods. 
Azarian, 

STEVENSON, R. L. 

New Arabian nights; 
THE Dynamiter. 

STURGIS. JULIAN. 

MY Friends anl I. 

TAYLOR, U. A. 

THE CITY OF SARRAS. 

THACKERAY, W. M. 
Early and Late Papers. 


TYTLER, O. O. F. 

Mistress Judith. 
Jonathan. 

TURGENIEFF, I. 

Fathers and Sons. 

Smoke. 

Liza, 

ON THE Eve. 

DIMITRI ROUOINH, 

Spring FLOODS; Lear, 
VIRGIN Soil. 

Annals of a Sportsman. 

VERS DE 80CIETE. 

VILLARI, LINDA. 

In Change Unchanged. 

WALFORD, L. B. 

Mr. Smith. 

Cousins. 

Pauline. 

Troublesome Daughters. 
Dick Nhtherhsy. 
the Baby’s Grandmother 
history ok a Week, iiius . 

WHARTON, THOS./ 

Hannibal of New York. 

WINGFIELD, L. 

THE Lovely Wang. 

WINTHROP, THEO. 

Cecil Dreeme, ■»/. Portrait , 
Canoe and Saddle. 

John Brent, 

Edwin Brothertoft. 

LIFE IN the OPFN Air. 

WYLDE, Katharine. 

A Dreamer. 

AW Ill-Regulated Mind, 

YESTERDAY. 


the leisure-hour SHAKESPEARE. 

The text of Dyce, with his glossary, also with a life, and an account 
of each play by A. R. Macparlane. 7 vols. 16mo. $7.00. 

MACFARLANE’S (ANNE ROBERTSON) 
CHILDREN OF THE EARTH. 

lOmo. Leisure Hour Series, $1.00. Leisure Moment Series, 50 cents. 

A povel by a new though thoroughly trained writer, who is already 
favorably known as a writer of short stories in Ilar'per'’% Weekly 
and elsewhere, and literary criticisms for llie Nation. The story is 
one of every-day people swayed by ordinary motives, but presented 
with a clearness and power sure to evoke the sympathy. The 
scenes are on the wild Nova Scotia coast and in New York society. 

suzette. 

A Virginian Novel of 1840. By M. S. Tiernan. 16mo. $1.25. 


HENRY HOLT d CO.. Publishers, 29 W. 23d St. New York. 



1 w 



f 



9 . • 


t \ 


L . 
« 


7 




4 









LEISURE HOUR SERIES.— No. 214. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR 


GEN. HUGH. EWING 

«» 

EX-MINISTER TO THE HAGUE 



NEW YORK 

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 

1888 



Copyright, 1888, 

BY 

HENRY HOLT & CO. 


Press W, L. Mershon Si Co., 
Rahway, N. J. 


CONTENTS 




PAGE 

CHAPTER I. 

Madison Goes out to Seek his Fortune, - i 

CHAPTER H. 

An Aerial Edifice Looms on the Horizon, 12 

CHAPTER III. 

The Virginia Deckers Climb the Family Tree, 25 

CHAPTER IV. 

Decline and Fall of the Old Red Lion, - 37 

CHAPTER V. 

The Evil Genie of the Castle in the Air, - 56 

CHAPTER VI. 

Tidings from Across the Ocean, - - 72 

CHAPTER VII. 

A Hunt for the Hidden Bundle, - - - 88 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Decker of Giles Goes Fishing with a High- 
land Chief, ------ 102 

CHAPTER IX. 

Decker of Rosedow is Fished for and 

Caught, 121 


11 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER X. 

The Coon Hunter and the Ghost, - - 134 

CHAPTER XI. 

A Midnight Apparition at the Red Lion, - 149 
CHAPTER XII. 

The Son of old Giles Wakes up, - - 166 

CHAPTER XIH. 

The Phantom Holds the Inn, - - - - 181 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Merriment at the Coon and Despair at the 

Lion, 196 


CHAPTER XV. 

The Fortune Hunters are Put to Rout, - 213 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Old Giles on the Trail, - _ _ . 226 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Defeat of Pilot and the Flight of Rush, - 241 

CHAPTER XVIH. 

The Castle Melts into Thin Air, - -- 257 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR 


CHAPTER I. 

MADISON GOES OUT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE. 

I N the romantic valley of the New River, on the 
eastern bank of the stream bearing that name, 
was situated the family mansion of the Deckers. 
It was a large, old brick edifice with a portico and 
wide hall, and an ill-kept lawn and garden extend- 
ing to the water. The war, and an ante-war 
mortgage that had increased steadily in value as 
the land it covered had diminished, had reduced 
the proprietor to shifts to support his growing 
family on his few remaining acres. His eldest son, 
who was married, lived in the mansion, and worked 
on and managed the place, while his second, 
Madison, called Mad. by the male portion of the 
family and Madie by the female, attended to the 
hunting department, bringing in small game and 
deer, and bear occasionally, to replenish the fam- 
ily larder. He was thin, slightly above middle 
height, with a dark face and a quizzically turned- 


2 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


up nose, and was a general favorite on account 
of his good-humor and disposition to make fun. 
He attended all the gatherings, political and re- 
ligious, that took place in the valley, including 
the camp-meetings of whites and blacks, and in- 
variably brought home some humorous account 
of what took place, to enliven the family. 

Shortly after reaching his majority, he rode in- 
to the county town and sold his horse that had 
been given him as a colt, the only thing of value 
that he possessed and which he dearly prized, and, 
walking home, informed his father that with the 
money thus obtained he intended starting out in 
the world to seek his fortune. It was a trying 
and sorrowful parting; but Madie declared that 
he would soon be back with money, restore the 
estate to its old dimensions, and build up the fam- 
ily, stem and branch. His brother rowed him in 
a boat to the first falls, where he took an affec- 
tionate leave ; and Madie strode off down the 
river road with a light heart. 

One hot evening in June, some months there- 
after, he was trudging along a dusty ridge-road 
leading up into central Ohio, when he reached 
the point where it began to descend into the val- 
ley, and saw a large town spread out beneath him. 
He sat down on a bank to rest and enjoy the 
view, and began to think over his prospects, which 
were any thing but promising. He had found the 
roads over which he had travelled lined with 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


3 


tramps coming and going, seeking employment, 
food, clothing, any thing to better their forlorn 
condition for the passing day. At night they lay 
under strawstacks, under trees by the roadside, in 
haymows or in fence corners, where they dropped 
to sleep, too tired to seek better accommodations 
or too reckless to care for them. They begged 
for food when they found men at home; they de- 
manded it when the men were in the fields. 
Sometimes they committed robbery accompanied 
by deeds of violence, by the careless use of 
matches fired barns in which they proposed to 
sleep, and robbed and murdered upon the high- 
ways. Bands of eight or ten would occupy a 
forest in the sterile hills, and, building their camp- 
fires among the rocks, would raid, at night, on the 
poultry-yards and gardens, orchards and vine- 
yards of the neighboring farms ; and the farmers, 
fearing arson if they interfered, would leave them 
undisturbed for weeks, until the spirit of unrest 
moved them, when they would break up and re- 
sume the tramp. The great majority of these 
wanderers started out from their homes originally 
in the honest pursuit of employment ; but many 
became demoralized by their vagabond life and 
sunk into the dangerous and unlawful habits of 
the class beneath them. 

As Madison sat thinking over this wonderful 
picture of life that had lately passed under his 
observation, he was joined by a dusty wayfarer, 


4 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


who sat down beside him on the bank, with the 
inquiry : 

“ What might your name be, stranger?” 

“ At home the boys called me ‘ Shanks,’ ” he 
replied, “ but lately, on the road, they call me 
Tramp. I should say ‘Tramp Shanks ’ would be 
about the thing.” 

“ You are too well dressed for that,” replied the 
other. “ I say,” he added, “ you couldn’t spare a 
fellow a dirne, could you, or such a matter, to get 
a glass of bitters? I’m not feelin’ altogether 
right this evenin’ on the insides.” 

“ If I had one to spare for a poor fellow,” 
answered Madison, “ I would present it to myself, 
for I spent my last quarter for breakfast this 
morning.” 

“ Oh ! that’s the time o’ day, is it % ” inquired 
the wayfarer. “ And where do you expect to get 
your supper to-night ? ” 

“ Echo,” replied Madison, “ answ^ers ‘ where ? ’ ” 

“ Come with me,” said the other, “ and I will 
show you where. Look at this little book,” 
drawing from his pocket a dirty memorandum. 
“ I call it the tramp’s guide to a square meal. 
Let me see,” he added, thumbing the leaves, 
“where is the name of this town? Oh, here it is. 
Yes, ‘Go up,’” he began reading, “‘Main to 
High, turn to left, second house, A No. i, never 
say no, meal square, family polite, cook cross.’ 
Never mind the cook,” he said, putting up his 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 5 

book, “ they always are cross, more or less. 
Come,” he added rising, “let us tramp.” 

Decker rose, and they descended the hill 
together, crossed the valley and entered the town. 
When they reached the kitchen gate of the indi- 
cated house, his conductor stooped down and 
pointed out to him, written in red chalk near the 
bottom of the post, the letter “ A ” and figure “ i.” 

“ That,” he said, “ is for the information of the 
unliterary tramp as can't keep a book. Houses 
that are not marked are no go ; no tramp need 
apply. Some are marked ‘ good people ’ but ‘ bad 
dog ’ ; some tramps don’t mind a dog. When 
you see a gate marked ‘ G. B. D.,’ that is what it 
means. If you can get into the kitchen there, 
all right ; they will treat you well and apologize 
for the dog.” 

“ ‘ A ’ alone,” he continued, “ means plenty, 
but cold ; ^ B ’, a small bite, a slice of bread and 
butter, or such like ; ‘ D ’ means doubtful, depend- 
ing on who sees you go in, the gentleman or the 
lady ; ‘ E ’ means uneven temper — that alludes to 
the lady of the house. If in good humor, she 
says, ‘ Certainly, cook, give the poor creatures 
something to eat but if her feathers are ruffled, 
she says ‘ Turn those tramps out of the kitchen. 
They are eating us out of house and home.’ Oh ! 
many a one I have heard call that out to the 
cook. But, come in,” he added, opening the gate, 
“ and get your supper.” 


6 


j castle in the aie. 


When they reached the open kitchen door, 
Madison following, his conductor halted and 
inquired of the cook if they could get some supper. 

“ And who told you this was a tavern ? ” she 
answered in a sharp voice. “ Come in, and don’t 
stand there keeping the decent man behind out 
in the dark. Take your seats with the others.” 

They entered and drew up to the table by three 
or four rough tramps who were supping with great 
vigor. Madison felt humiliated and abashed ; 
but he was young and hungry, and did justice to 
his first charity meal. 

“You don’t look much like a tramp,” said the 
cook to him, as she eyed him sharply. 

“ I trust I may come to look the character in 
time, ma’am,” he answered with a smile. “ I am 
young, you perceive, and inexperienced — just 
out of the nest.” 

“ Where you had better have staid,” she 
answered, “judging from appearances, though 
you are no beauty.” 

“ Beauty is deceitful, ma’am, and favor is vain,” 
said Madison, taking a leaf out of his camp-meet- 
ing notes, with an air that drew a laugh from all 
present, and relieved him from embarrassment. 
The supper finished, he politely thanked the 
cook, and left his thanks for the lady of the house, 
and withdrew with his companion. 

They slept under a tree near town ; and in the 
morning Madison pursued his inquiries for 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


7 


employment in vain. His comrade had given up 
the pursuit long before and resigned himself to 
his vagrant mode of life. They took the road 
again, and wandered on from town to town, fall- 
ing in with other parties, sleeping under the same 
strawstacks, and journeying together for a time 
and then separating, until one night, his comrade 
having fallen asleep, Madison overheard three 
men, who had come up later and sat down against 
the straw without perceiving him, plan the 
burglary of a farm-house near by. The stack 
under which they lay was in a field not far from 
the main road, and the house a fine one, some 
distance back. Madison rose quietly, made his 
way to the residence, and knocked at the door of 
a room in which an old gentleman was sitting, 
reading. It was unlocked and opened slightly, 
when Madison briefly informed him of his errand. 
He was admitted and gave a detailed recital of 
what he had overheard. The men had been to 
the house before dark and got their supper. 
They had applied at this room, and, observing 
there was no bed in it, it was this window they 
intended to force. The old gentlemen was 
alarmed, as the inmates, excepting himself, were 
females. His first thought was to send for help, 
but he had no near neighbors. It was approach- 
midnight, and Madison informed him that they 
would soon make their appearance, as they were 
about to start when he left. 


8 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


“ What is to be done ? ” asked the old gentle- 
man in dismay. 

Will you leave it to me to manage ? " said 
Madison. “ If you do, and have any arms in the 
house, I will answer that no one inside will be 
hurt, whatever may happen to the outsiders.’' 

I have a shot-gun and pistol, both loaded," 
he answered, and will gladly leave it to you to 
manage. What is your plan ? " 

— “ Any one sleeping in the room overhead 1 " 

“No," answered the old gentleman, “ it is a 
lumber room. “Good!" replied Madison, “do 
not disturb the family. Give me the gun, and 
come to the room above with your pistol." 

Quietly ascending the stairs, they entered and 
closed the door. Madison opened the window 
gently, and took his stand near it, requesting the 
old gentleman to take a seat further back. The 
house was dark ; they had extinguished the light 
in the library before leaving it. After the lapse 
of ten or fifteen minutes, a slight noise below 
announced the approach of the burglars. Madi- 
son peered cautiously out ; the old gentlemen on 
tiptoe drew near him. In a moment a percepti- 
ble grating noise at the shutter showed they 
were beginning to force their way in. Madison 
put his head out of the window and called 
down : 

“ Gentlemen, don’t break the shutter ; the door 
is unlocked ; there are two farm hands inside 


A CASTLE JET THE AIR. 


9 


with guns and axes waiting to receive you. 
Walk in.” 

But, instead of walking in, they walked away, 
soon breaking into a run, when Madison pro- 
truded the barrel of the gun and fired the two 
loads in quick succession, and, the old gentleman 
handing him the pistol, he rapidly emptied it, 
load after load. The house was now in tumult, 
and the old gentleman ran to the ladies’ room to 
quiet them, and announce the victory. Lights 
were lit in the bedrooms, and the gentlemen, 
reloading their pieces, descended to the library, 
and let out the dog, which had been shut in by 
the ladies for fear of poison, and was barking furi- 
ously at the door. He coursed about the house 
and grounds in endless circles, and, finding no 
enemy to contend with, barked defiance until 
daybreak at the general public. 

In the library, after breakfast, Madison gave the 
old gentleman an account of himself, and was in- 
vited to make his home with the family, and assist 
in the management of the estate, at a very satisfac- 
tory monthly stipend. He had wandered on foot, 
before he lit by chance on this lucky employment, 
from the banks of New River, at the foot of 
the mountains in Giles, to the Highlands of the 
Hudson, more than a thousand miles, and found 
himself, at the termination of his weary tramp, 
the friend and trusted agent of the owner of an 
extensive cattle and dairy farm. Daily he drove 


lo A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

the old gentleman, Mr. Bronson, about the estate 
in a low, one-seated phaeton, and, when the 
weather invited, on visits to neighboring places. 
On one of these out-trips, as they slowly ascended 
a long hill, Bronson pointed out to him, half way 
up, a stately iron double gateway, opening on a 
well-kept gravel road, that swept curving through 
a wood and lawn beyond, and said : 

“ In there lives a gentleman of your name, Mr. 
Samuel Decker ; let us drive in and make a call.” 

They accordingly entered and drove up to a 
handsome country residence, where they were cor- 
dially received by a venerable, white-haired gen- 
tleman and his daughter, who was seated near 
him, reading aloud. 

After some general conversation, Mr. Decker 
inquired of Madison what part of the State he 
was from. 

“ I am not a native of this State,” was the 
answer ; I was born in Giles County in southwest 
Virginia.” 

“ We have heard,” said Mr. Decker, of your 
amusing reception of the burglars at JMr. Bron- 
son’s ; the country side has been ringing with it. 
You Virginians have a funny way of meeting 
danger, and a cool way. From what country 
did your family emigrate to Virginia ? ” 

“ My grandfather came from somewhere near 
New York city. I don’t know that I ever heard 
exactly where. It was that fact, and a vague at- 


A CAS'rLE IN THE AIR. 


I 


traction toward the great city, that induced me 
when on the tramp to turn my steps in this 
direction.” 

“ Did you ever hear your family speak of a for- 
tune coming to the Deckers in New York and in 
Amsterdam ? ” inquired Mr. Decker. 

I have heard my father say that my grand- 
father, before he left for Virginia, had contributed 
money for the recovery of property in the city,, 
and to employ a lawyer to go to Holland for the 
same purpose. My father said it was the famous 
Aaron Burr that went over, but as he was a slip- 
pery person he probably sold them out.” 

“You have heard nothing recently on the sub- 
ject ? ” said Mr. Decker. 

“Nothing,” replied Madison; “we live too far 
out of the world to hear what is going on.” 

“ Well, sir,” said Mr. Decker, “ I wish you 
would write your father for his pedigree, and call 
and spend the day and dine with me when you 
receive it. And if he is on the family tree, and 
from what you tell me I presume he is, I may be 
of great service to him.” 


CHAPTER II. 


AN AERIAL EDIFICE LOOMS ON THE HORIZON. 

T here emigrated in old days, from Old 
Amsterdam in the delta of the Rhine, to a 
village of the same name at the mouth of the 
Hudson, a person by the name of Dekker, who 
procured, by purchase or grant, a cow-pasture and 
garden-spot in its outskirts. In due time he died 
and his possessions passed into alien hands. Over 
a hundred years since, the descendants of this 
person began to lay claim to the estate, which 
was growing steadily in value, and ever since at 
intervals have renewed their claim, having 
dropped in the course of time a k from the name, 
and substituted a c. 

The impecunious young attorney, briefless and 
on the verge of starvation, takes refuge as a last 
resort in the Decker case. He inserts in a city 
paper a news item to the effect that the estate has 
now reached the enormous value of one hundred 
million dollars, and that recent investigations 
in the old records show a clear title in the heirs of 
Decker, some of whom have already employed 
counsel, are handing in their pedigrees and mov- 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR, 


13 


ing on the enemy’s works. It is understood that 

Mr. , of No. Street, is 

retained for the heirs.” This is copied by the 
rural press, and letters pour in on the attorney 
from all quarters. He answers, giving some ac- 
count of the original Dekker, of the situation 
and value of the estate, and calling for proof of 
relationship and a ten-dollar bill to cover expense 
of examining their papers, and placing their 
names on his list of heirs. All who answer the 
appeal for money receive notice that the office 
possesses the necessary evidence, where their 
proofs are defective, to fully establish their rela- 
tionship, that their names are entered on the list, 
and that a division of the estate might be confi- 
dently looked forward to at an early day. Those 
who answer, but fail to remit, are advised that 
their claims will not be examined nor their names 
placed on the list, and, as the property will soon 
be divided, they will forfeit their share unless they 
promptly forward a fee. After a lapse of time, a 
circular is sent out announcing that, as soon as the 
court charges are paid, a day will be set for divi- 
sion, and calling for further remittances. Other 
calls for money follow at intervals until the pa- 
tience of the Deckers is exhausted ; and the family 
is allowed a rest until the next generation springs 
up, and a new attorney, urged on by the old neces- 
sity, renews the never-ending suit. 

The effect of this periodical excitement in the 


14 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


Decker family is not beneficial. Many plunge into 
extravagance in view of the near realization of a 
fortune, and waste their substance on new bonnets, 
silk dresses, and other vanities. Men double their 
potations, and spend time and money in entertain- 
ing admiring and envious listeners. Some neg- 
lect their business and devote themselves to trac- 
ing back their relationship, and maintaining a 
correspondence with their attorney and numer- 
ous members of the family, and in many cases in 
buying out the rights of the incredulous. Demor- 
alization, in one form or another, taints the entire 
stock ; and they are left, when their high hopes are 
finally blasted, dissatisfied and suspicious. One- 
half cherish the conviction that their attorney 
collected the money, and placed it in hidden in- 
vestments, and the other half that he sold him- 
self to the men in possession ; and they unite, by 
their discussion of the subject, in preparing the 
minds of their children to fall fresh victims to the 
rising generation of starved attorneys. Meetings 
of delegates are called in various parts of the 
country, by notice in the press, at which money is 
raised and an attorney, generally some member of 
the beguiled family, selected and sent on to the 
city to look into the matter. Whatever his report 
may be on his return, his fate is the same. One 
moiety of the family, as he has accomplished 
nothing, look upon him as an imbecile, and the 
other as a traitor; and the ill-feeling that had 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 15 

been heretofore concentrated on the city attorney 
is now in good part bestowed on him, until he be- 
wails the hour in which he undertook the mission. 
That the Deckers will ever in future generations 
be relieved of their incubus is not to be hoped ; 
they are doomed, like a caste in India, to wear 
their chains forever. 

A few years after the seventeenth century was 
half expended, about the time their English de- 
scendants were taking New Amsterdam from the 
Dutch, a Dekker went out from the Venice of the 
north to Bantam in West Java, as clerk in a fac- 
tory established there. He received rapid promo- 
tion, as the climate removed one after another 
those above him, and he had the gratification to 
return to his native canal, after the expiration of 
a few years of exile, rich in purse, but poor in 
health. He invested a portion of his earnings in 
three adjoining, narrow, but lofty houses, that 
stand to this day where he left them soon after 
the purchase, hurried reluctantly and prema- 
turely out of life by a deficient liver, impaired by 
the climate of Bantam. One of these houses 
stands on a corner in the business quarter of the 
city, and the other two on either of the intersect- 
ing streets. Many a pilgrim Decker, and Decker 
attorney, has stood at times, during the past hun- 
dred years, on the corner diagonally opposite, and 
had his faith in the Decker claim confirmed by 
the sight of the lofty edifices losing their upper 


1 6 A CASTLE JxV THE AIR, 

stories in the Holland fog. Not that they claimed 
the buildings themselves ; they would not furnish 
a brick apiece to the multitude of expectants. 
But they hoped to obtain the amount for which 
they were sold, with compound interest to date 
of recovery, which footed up, according to the 
computation of their attorneys, the grand total of 
one hundred million dollars, “ which sum, princi- 
pal and interest, now lies,” writes the American 
agent, stranded on the shore of an Amsterdam 
canal, impecunious and hungry for money to pay 
his way home, “ in the Bank of Amsterdam, 
awaiting the claimants.” It is not disputed that 
the American Decker was heir to the estate of the 
Bantam gentleman ; but at the death of the latter. 
New Amsterdam had changed its name to New 
York, and the Dutch intercourse with it had in a 
manner ceased ; and no claim was set up by him 
or his immediate descendants. No heir appearing, 
after due publication, the estate was handed over, 
according to law, to the guardians of the orphans, 
who collected the rents and expended them on 
the asylums ; and, after the lapse of thirty years, 
the estate was converted into money and turned 
into the orphans’ fund ; and the heirship of the 
American expired. To make a Decker believe 
that a time in the past had been reached, or a time 
in the future would come, when he would cease to 
be an heir was not within the province of logic. 
He might be persuaded that the earth was flat, 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. ij 

but not that a portion of it once held by a Decker 
could permanently quit the family. 

Nearly eighty years ago a noted man, who had 
lost caste at home and had been reduced to pov- 
erty, appeared at Amsterdam, lured and blinded 
in his fallen estate by the false glare of these 
phosphorescent millions. The garret in which 
the troubled spirit of Aaron Burr wrought and 
schemed in the forlorn hope to reinstate himself 
by the recovery of this phantom fortune is still 
pointed out. Tales are told of his destitution, of 
his struggles for black bread, of his despair and 
final exit in defeat, and shame, and want. The 
once brilliant political leader, the fascinator of 
men, the organizer who aimed at the establishment 
of an empire, had come to this, cast down from 
his high eminence, like his prototype, for revolt 
against authority primeval and delegated. He 
left the case in the condition in which it has ever 
since stood, with clear proof of the heirship of the 
American emigrant, of the sale and covering in 
of the proceeds of the three tall houses into the 
asylum funds, and with proofs of heirship of the 
persons he represented. This accomplished, he 
stood face to face with the inflexible Dutch law, 
which bars out for laches the heir who lags beyond 
the period of thirty years, and bars him out once 
and forever. The Bank of Amsterdam does not 
groan under the weight of the accumulated 
interest, anxiously awaiting the coming of the 


1 8 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

American heir to carry it away. On the contrary, 
the asylum authorities expend it as it accrues, 
and are fortified in their possession of the princi- 
pal by ages of precedent and custom against 
which it is madness to contend. The foundation 
of the case, in the estimation of the heirs, was 
cemented and made strong by the mere fact that 
a man of such astuteness had labored on it under 
the very shadow of the great bank in whose vaults 
the treasure lay buried. Would he, one of the 
pilots of the ship of state, have journeyed to that 
far-off city over the great ocean in pursuit of a 
shadow? No ; but it was not Burr the successful 
who had so done ; it was Burr the broken-down — 
two very different men. Not Burr from his pride 
of place, but Burr fluttering and wounded on the 
ground — Burr thrown overboard, gasping at a 
straw, in a vain effort to keep his head above 
water. The interested see what they wish to see, 
and resolutely close their eyes to that which mili- 
tates against their theory. 

It was well understood that the men in posses- 
sion of the New York property would, on eviction, 
be liable for mean profits or back rents, which, it 
was said, would run up the amount to about the 
sum (one hundred million) lying at Amsterdam. 
Some thought it would be well to remit the 
mean profits, as it would bear hard on the inno- 
cent holders, and in fact reduce them to poverty ; 
but others insisted on demanding the last cent— 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


^9 


lands, buildings, and back rents ; and, though the 
attorney who had the case in hand inclined to 
the side of charity, he frankly confessed that he 
must bow in this delicate matter to the will of his 
clients, who had the right, if they so pleased, to 
financially exterminate the adverse parties — rob- 
bers, as many a Decker called them, and honestly 
believed them to be. 

Samuel Decker, in his younger days when 
money was by no means plentiful with him, had 
managed to respond in several small sums to the 
appeal of the impecunious Decker attorney of 
that day. His father before him had entertained 
his family with glowing visions of future wealth, 
and had contributed his share towards furthering 
the great suit, and left a firm conviction on his 
son’s mind that, one day or other, the Deckers 
would recover. His father was of opinion they 
had been sold out, he himself that the affair had 
not been pushed with vigor, but carried on in a 
perfunctory manner. And when he received a 
letter, in answer to a small sum drawn from him 
by the usual notice in the paper giving an account 
of the flourishing condition of the suit, he wrote to 
the attorney of the hour, Mr. John Pilot of No. lo 
Fish St., inviting him to dine at his country-seat, 
and saying that if he would indicate a day his 
carriage would meet him at the river station and 
bring him up. Mr. Pilot, who by this time had 
realized quite a little sum from his advertisements. 


20 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


and purchased himself a new suit the better to 
impress his callers, promptly indicated a day ; 
and, armed with maps of the property in dispute 
as it now appeared, laid off in blocks and lots, 
and a fanciful one of its appearance as a pasture 
and garden in the good old days of the propositus 
of the Deckers, in the outskirts of the then New 
Amsterdam, he duly made his appearance at 
Rosedow (as the Decker seat was called), and was 
well received and entertained. He had prepared 
himself at all points, and exerted himself to make 
a good impression on his wealthy client person- 
ally and for his case. And he succeeded. Besides 
lacking a legal and logical mind, the visions of 
Decker’s youth revived and clouded his brain ; 
and all that Pilot said to enthuse him met a 
hearty reception. The family tree which Pilot 
had worked up was produced, and from it there 
appeared but astonishingly few heirs. None, in 
fact, were entered on it but those who had feed 
Pilot ; and he suggested to Decker that several 
could be bought out for a small sum, if carefully 
approached, as they were poor and impatient, and 
he thought would prefer a small amount in hand to 
waiting. He would sound them on his own behalf, 
were it not unprofessional. Having dropped 
this seed, he turned to Della, and did his best 
to entertain and impress her. When the day 
closed and he was taking his leave, the old gentle- 
man said : 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


21 


“ Mr. Pilot, I do not care to buy an interest in 
the estate, as my own is very large — immensely so, 
if no other claimants appear than those on your 
tree ; but I should like, as a matter of curiosity, 
to know what the interest of an heir in the same 
degree as myself could be had for. If it comes 
in your way, inquire and write me.” 

“ With great pleasure,” answered Pilot, “ though 
it may be some time, months perhaps, before the 
parties I alluded to visit my office again. But I 
shall not forget it, and at the first opportunity 
will make the inquiry and advise you.” Then 
with a sweep of his hat, and a comprehensive bow 
that lingered on the daughter, he took his seat 
in the carriage and was driven off. 

Some weeks thereafter, the old gentleman 
received a letter from him in which he said that 
an heir, Mr. Thaddeus Decker, standing in the 
same remove from the propositus as himself, had 
come to him in company with a money-lender 
and had him draw up a conditional assignment of 
his interest, to be attached as security to a prom- 
issory note for several thousand dollars. That 
he had privately remonstrated with the gentleman, 
but he had replied that his needs were imperative ; 
and he could not do otherwise than draw the 
papers and arrange the business for him. But, 
before he left the office, he had taken him aside 
and sounded him on the subject of a sale of his 
interest. He had, at first, asked a large sum. 


22 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


saying it would eventually bring him in a million 
at least, but, in his eagerness for money in hand, 
had come down to ten thousand dollars in cash. 
“ Happy in having so soon been able to gratify 
your curiosity,” he wrote, closing his letter, “ I 
remain, truly your obedient servant, John Pilot.” 

In the interval that had elapsed between the 
visit of Pilot and the receipt of this letter, the old 
gentleman had spent his time in constructing 
family trees, calculating the value of the property 
in the city and the probable back rents, and 
estimating the sum total lying in the Bank of 
Amsterdam at different rates of interest, being 
doubtful as to the rate at which it had been grow- 
ing during the previous two hundred years ; and 
when the letter reached him he hailed its advent 
as furnishing fresh material to think and calculate 
upon. He had worked out his own probable 
share, and knew the value of the interest referred 
to, and was bewildered at the enormous disparity 
between it and the trifling amount at which it 
could be secured. How rich he could leave his 
daughter if he added that share to his own ! He 
opened the library door leading to the parlor, and 
invited her into his study. 

Della, my dear,” he said, “ I have a very 
important matter I wish to consult you about.” 

“ Very well, papa,” she answered, “ I am here 
and ready. It is not about our trip to the city, is 
it?” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


23 


“ No,” he replied, “ it is about something very- 
much more important.” 

“There is nothing more important to me just 
now,” she said ; “ but go on. I am all attention.” 

“ I have here,” he said, “ a letter from Mr. 
Pilot, informing me that an interest in the great 
estate equal in value to my own can be purchased 
for ten thousand dollars; and I have a mind to 
buy it. What do you think?” 

“ Why, papa,” she answered, “to tell the truth, 
I don’t think much of Mr. Pilot, and wouldn’t 
follow his advice in any thing — at least, any thing 
of importance.” 

“ He doesn’t advise it, my child. It was I pro- 
posed to him to inquire concerning it.” 

“ I heard him suggest a purchase the day he 
dined here, and it comes from him,” she answered. 
“ I say have nothing to do with it.” 

“ Della,” he replied, impatiently, “you ladies 
never can discuss business affairs without bring- 
ing in your personal likes and dislikes. Go back 
to your work, child, and I’ll think about it.” 

And he did think about it, and of little else, for 
several weeks. He thought how men he knew 
and used to meet frequently before he retired 
from business had since acquired millions in a day 
by a lucky hit. “No,” he said aloud, rising and 
walking the floor, “ not by luck, but by nerve ; it 
was nerve that did it and, seating himself, he 
wrote to Pilot that he might purchase the inter- 


24 


A CAS7'LE JN THE AIR. 


est alluded to, if he could get it for five thousand 
dollars, hoping in his secret heart, however, that 
Pilot could not get it. , But Pilot did, and 
brought the papers up and settled the transaction 
quite speedily. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE VIRGINIA DECKERS CLIMB THE FAMILY TREE. 



HEN the banks of the New River ceased to 


VV echo the voice of Madison, a gloom settled 
down on the old house. The family performed 
their daily duties mournfully, and the mother 
especially, like Rachel of Bethlehem, would not 
be comforted. Letters had come at first, each 
less hopeful than the preceding, until they ceased 
entirely ; and the mother gave herself over to the 
most dismal forebodings. After a long interval 
a neighbor, returning from the post-village, rode 
up to the fence and handed over a letter from the 
vagrant son to the mother ; and the solitary 
house was soon filled with gladness. It was from 
the Highlands, giving a detailed account of his 
tramp, his triumph over the burglars, and engage- 
ment with Mr. Bronson, and ended by a de- 
scription of Rosedow, the old gentleman and his 
daughter, and asking for the family pedigree. 
The family were most effectually aroused by this 
intelligence from their state of depression, and 
speculation on the future of Madison ran rife. 
All was beautiful now that had lately seemed so 


26 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


dark. The father went over all he remembered 
to have heard concerning the old fortune and 
suit, and Burr’s connection with it, branching off 
into anecdotes concerning that individual, not all 
of them entirely to his credit, and expressed the 
opinion that, as a man of position who knew 
the city was stirring in the affair, there was quite 
likely something in it. The mother said there 
was something significant in Madie’s allusion to 
Miss Della, and it was not at all improbable they 
would make a match. Madie could get any girl 
he wanted, she was quite sure of that ! No girl 
was too good for Madie. 

“ Will,” said she, addressing her husband, “ I 
suppose you know the pigs were in the garden 
night before last, and rooting up the lawn ? I 
declare that fence is a disgrace to the place ; it 
is actually falling to pieces. It ought to be put 
in order and painted, and the lawn put in order 
and kept in order, and the house needs a coat of 
paint, if ever a house did.” 

It would cost a sum to paint the house,” he 
answered, laughing quietly ; “ but I will have the 
woodwork painted, and the fence too, for that mat- 
ter, when the young people write they are coming.” 

^‘You may laugh as much as you please,” 
replied the mother, “ but stranger things have 
happened.” 

“ The inside wants paint,” said the daughter, 
“ worse than the outside,” 


A CAS7ZE IN’ THE AIR. 


27 


** I suppose,” said the son, “ if any thing comes 
of this fortune, you will buy back all the land ? ” 
Not only that,” answered the father, “ but I 
will promise the ladies to add a portico to the 
south door, and re-paint the entire house, brick- 
work as well as woodwork, and go back to the 
old style of living before the war, except the 
mortgages. I have had enough of them.” 

“ If I had my way,” said the son, “ I would buy 
the Johnsons out ; their little place cuts in on the 
old estate and spoils its shape. It would round 
us out beautifully to take it in.” 

“ I will buy,” said the old gentleman, warming 
up, “ all Giles, if I ever get money enough, except- 
ing the villages. I wouldn’t take them as a gift.” 

‘‘ Of course we will go to the Springs in sum- 
mer,” said the daughter. 

Yes,” said a younger girl, “ and to town in 
the winter. It’s too doleful in the country, and 
the roads are so dreadful one can’t stir out. I 
thought I should have died before last spring 
came.” 

“ Suppose it all turns out smoke,” said the 
father, cooling down a little as these propositions 
came pouring in upon him, “what then?” 

“ But it won’t,” said the daughter quickly ; “it 
can’t. I am sure we will get it before the year is 
out. From what Madie writes I am certain of it. 
It would be dreadful if it should fail now after 
making our plans, I don’t think I could stand it,” 


28 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“Suppose it does end in smoke,” said the 
mother, “which I don’t believe, I will pin my 
faith to Madie ; he will bring the family out yet, 
mark my words.” 

“ Well,” said the old gentleman, “ time will tell, 
and in the meanwhile we had better go to bed. 
I haven’t been up so late since the war.” 

The following day was devoted to writing 
letters to Madie. Every one had something to 
say to him, some news to relate, and questions to 
ask. The little ones advised him of the condition 
of the dogs and cats and game, the older girls 
of the gossip ; the mother questioned him closely 
concerning Miss Della, and gave it as her opinion 
that early marriages were the happiest ; and the 
father gave him all the information he was in 
possession of concerning the family tree, and 
sent his compliments to Messrs. Bronson and 
Decker. 

Several days after the receipt of his budget of 
letters from home, Madison put the one from his 
father in his pocket, and drove over to dine at 
Rosedow. The family consisted of the old 
gentleman and his daughter, a good-looking girl 
of eighteen, with auburn hair and blue eyes, mild 
and playful in disposition, but with decided 
character inherited from her Scotch mother. 
This lady, whose Celtic maiden name was Col- 
quhoun, pronounced and spelt in America Calhoun, 
did not long survive their entry on the estate 


A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. 


29 


which she named Rosedow, after the family seat 
of the clan, on the western bank of Loch Lomond, 
opposite the Islands. Helen Colquhoun Decker 
was a loss not only to her family but to society, 
which she adorned, and her husband bore her 
memory through the succeeding years in tender 
recollection. 

When Madison entered the parlor. Miss Della 
informed him that her father was engaged in his 
library with a gentleman on business, and said 
she would endeavor to entertain him until he was 
disengaged. 

You are quite a public character, Mr. Decker,” 
she said as they sat down. “ All the world is 
talking of the valor you displayed in your encoun- 
ter with the burglars.” 

There was not the least display of valor on 
either side. Miss Della, if you will permit me to 
address you so. It is our custom in Virginia.” 

“ Certainly,” she answered, “ Della, by all means, 
especially as papa says we are relatives, and we 
Scotch — you know I am part Scotch — count back 
and cherish our relations to the forty-second 
cousin. Besides, Mr. Decker — ” 

Madison,” he said, interrupting her, with a 
quizzical look, between cousins, you know.” 

“Very well,” she continued, laughing merrily; 
“ Mr. Madison — ” 

“ Never mind the Mr.,” he again interrupted, 
with an injured look that set her laughing; 


30 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Cousin Madie is what I have been hoping for, 
and really have a right to expect — from my Scotch 
kin.” 

“ Very well, then, if it must be so. Cousin 
Madie — but what was I going to say ? Oh, yes ! 
The Virginians are celebrated for their stately 
manners. It seems, however, they are not so 
cold and formal as the people of the North. The 
affection you bestowed on the burglars is a clear 
proof of this. What a touching interview it was ! 
Pray give me a true account of it just as it 
occurred.” 

There was precious little in it, Cousin Della 
(excuse me, Nature will out) — precious little 
in it. I simply put my head out of the window, 
and invited them in. That is the long and short 
of it. Nothing more, I assure you.” 

“ But how would that frighten them off ? ” she 
inquired. 

‘‘ Why, you see,” lie answered, “they were not 
looking for an invitation, and it embarrassed them. 
Nothing so disconcerts an opponent as to meet 
him with the unexpected. Besides common 
politeness required them to decline an invitation 
at such a late hour.” 

“ Where did you learn to be so very diplomatic ? ” 

“ Once in the mountains of Giles,” he answered, 
“ I was hunting in the snow for turkey, and 
came suddenly on a hungry panther. She looked 
fierce, and evidently expected me to scare and 


A CASTLE TV THE AIR. 31 

run. It struck me I had best not gratify her, so 
I stood stock still, and looked her pleasantly in 
the eye. She gradually changed the expression 
of her countenance to one of doubt, and slunk 
away. When she had got beyond springing dis- 
tance, I drew up and fired. Her skin is a hearth- 
rug now in the parlor at home. The ruffian is 
like the panther ; if he finds you won’t scare, he 
will. Somebody must scare, you know ; and it is 
only a question of who has the steadiest nerve. 
They don’t wish to risk their lives any more than 
a gentleman does — be assured of that.” 

“ You ought to have been in the war,” she said, 
“you woujd certainly have made your mark.” 

“ I dare say I would have made it disagreeable 
to more than one poor fellow, if I had been ; but 
I was too young.” 

“ Do you remember any thing of it?” 

“ But one scene,” he answered. “ Our troops 
were south of us, where the river breaks through 
the mountains, and the Federals came marching 
against them on the other bank of the river. I 
was looking out of the garret window, to which 
the children had been sent for safety, when I saw 
my grandfather in his dressing-gown and slippers, 
running down the lawn to the river bank, with a 
squirrel rifle in his hand. He raised his gun when 
he reached the river, and fired across at the sol- 
diers ; and then ran back to the house with great 
speed, his dressing-gown fluttering behind him in 


32 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


the wind. The soldiers raised a great laugh and, 
it seemed to me, fired back at him in fun to make 
him run faster. The old gentleman was very- 
much offended at the soldiers laughing at him, 
and rushed down and took another shot. He 
only got two or three shots in reply this time, 
as an officer on horseback waved his sword at the 
men, and told them not to shoot. Grandfather 
loaded up again, but the ladies got about him, 
and kept him in the house.” 

“ What a funny family you Virginia Deckers 
are,” said Della, laughing. “ Papa,” she said, as 
her father and Pilot entered from the library, 
“you have missed a delightful story of the war.” 

“ 1 am very sorry, my dear,” he answered. 
“ Mr. Decker, I am glad to see you. Allow me 
to introduce Mr. John Pilot, the attorney of the 
Decker estate.” 

The gentlemen bowed, neither impressing the 
other favorably. Pilot felt there was danger in 
the appearance of a second Decker at Rosedow ; 
and Madison marked him at once as underbred. 

“ If you have a letter from your father,” said the 
old gentleman, “ come both of you into the li- 
brary, and we will see if the Virginians are entitled 
to a place on the family tree.” 

They passed into the library, and Mr. Decker 
carefully read over the Virginia pedigree. 

“ Sir,” said he, rising and shaking Madison by 
the hand, “ let us congratulate each other. Hen- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


33 


drik Dekker was our common ancestor. Your 
father and I stand in the same degree removed. 
His fortune will be immense. He is a lucky man, 
for this discovery was the result of your coming 
into this neighborhood by a happy chance. Mr. 
Pilot,” he added, handing him the letter, “ look 
over that pedigree, and have the goodness to place 
Mr. William Decker, of Giles County, Virginia, on 
the family tree.” 

Pilot read the letter carefully, and pretended to 
read it a second time, while he was thinking of 
some way to make a plausible objection. But, 
none occurring to him, he took up his pen and, 
drawing the tree, which lay on the table, to him, 
perched the Virginian on his native limb. 

Della was summoned, and the branch of the 
tree appertaining to Madison pointed out, and in- 
formed by her father that they were cousins. 

“And not so far removed at that,” he said, 
smiling ; “ so you must cease to be strangers.” 

“ I am inclined to think that is already done,” 
she answered with a smile. “ When our new 
cousin entered the parlor, ceremony flew out of 
the window. What do you think, papa ? Are 
we near enough akin to authorize the address of 
cousin ? The gentleman seems of that opinion.” 

“ I am sure your poor mother would agree with 
him, were she living, Della,” he answered, “ and 
I see no reason why you should not call each 
other cousin. Relatives should be friendly and 


34 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


show each other some affection, and certainly 
should not stand off at arm’s length, like mere 
acquaintances.” 

“That is a Giles County sentiment,” said Mad- 
ison, with enthusiasm ; “ no difference how far 
off, it was always ‘ Cousin Madie ’ to me, and I 
like it. It brings distant relatives near to each 
other, and keeps affection alive. It is the true 
thing to do. Don’t you think so. Cousin Della?” 
he added, turning smiling to her. They all, 
save Pilot, laughed at this, and adjourned to the 
parlor. 

“ Here is your father’s letter,” said the old gen- 
tleman, folding it as they walked in, and handing 
it to Madison. “ Present my compliments to him 
when you write, and my congratulations on his 
near accession to a great fortune. If you come 
over in the course of a week, I will have pre- 
pared for you a copy of the brief in the case, with 
an estimate, reliable within a few millions, of the 
value of the American property, and of the 
amount in the vaults at Amsterdam ; and you 
may forward it to your father for his informa- 
tion.” 

Pilot here said something to him in a low tone. 

“ No, sir; no,” he answered aloud. “ Mr. Pilot 
suggested that I might wish to purchase your 
father’s interest, but I feel as though I knew him 
already through you, and would not entertain the 
proposition. I wish your branch of the family 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


35 


to reap their full share, undiminished — undimin- 
ished. Tell him when you write to sell to no 
one.” 

Mr. Pilot,” answered Madison, ‘‘ has natu- 
rally your interest at heart over that of a stranger. 
Still, down at Giles Court House I have heard 
the lawyers say that a professional gentleman 
should guard the interests of all his clients 
equally.” 

And where may Giles Court House be loca- 
ted ? ” asked Pilot, with a slight sneer. 

Giles is down in old Virginia,” answered 
Madison, with a pleasant smile, “ where the 
women are fair and the men honest.” 

Della laughed, and Pilot, disconcerted, turned 
to Mr. Decker, and entered into conversation. 
Dinner was announced, and Pilot moved quickly 
to Della, but Madison was beforehand with him, 
and led her out. He kept her ear during dinner, 
though Pilot made numerous ineffectual efforts 
to divert her attention. He kept the father and 
daughter laughing and in fine spirits by his witty 
observations on the manners and customs of the 
commonalty in Giles, the mountaineers, the col- 
ored brethren, and the camp-meetings. In allud- 
ing to some funny sermons he had heard, he ex- 
cited Della’s curiosity ; and had it not been for 
the presence of Pilot she would have prevailed 
on him to preach one ; but she got his promise to 
give her some extracts on a future occasion. 


36 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Pilot was disappointed with the dinner, and 
was glad when it was over. He had not antici- 
pated a fourth at table, and had come from the 
city with subjects of conversation thought over 
and arranged in due order in his mind, and fully 
counted on making a great and favorable im- 
pression on both father and daughter, especially 
the latter. He bore up manfully, however, hid 
his irritation, and did his best to get a footing in 
the conversation, though he felt he was over- 
shadowed and outmatched. He tried one fall 
with his adversary and gave it up. As the laugh 
subsided, caused by some mimicry of Madison’s, 
Pilot said it was quite amusing, but illustration 
drawn from higher life might be equally so, and 
better relished by those accustomed to society. 

If I had sprung from low life myself,” Madi- 
son answered, “ I would not relish hearing it 
taken off either; but I didn’t; I come from the 
Deckers, good blood, none better.” 

The old gentleman applauded this, and called 
out: “You are a true Decker, Cousin Madison; 
let me drink your health.” 

Miss Della held up her glass also to be filled, 
and said with a smile, and slight inclination of 
the head, 

“To Cousin Madie!” — and the iron entered 
into the soul of Pilot. 


CHAPTER IV. 


DECLINE AND FALL OF THE OLD RED LION. 

J OHN PILOT was a native of a county town 
in Jersey, where he dwelt until drawn into 
the great city to seek his fortune. His father, 
who was of a roving disposition, one day left his 
wife with one child and no property but the cot- 
tage in which they lived (which he would have 
converted into money and carried with him, could 
he have got her consent to a sale or mortgage), 
and set out on his last ramble. Several letters 
came at intervals during the first few months, and 
then he disappeared from the knowledge of his 
little family forever. He did not leave behind 
him much of a reputation ; but his son, when he 
reached man’s estate, partook of it, such as it was. 
He was inclined to crooked ways, and sought 
money and advancement with restless activity. 
He entered at the bar, and attended promptly to 
such little business as came in his way, or he 
could create. He was faithful to his office on 
week-days, and on Sunday took his only recrea- 
tion, a drive to the Red Lion Tavern, five miles 


38 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


out on the old road, now disused, leading from 
New York to Philadelphia. The country imme- 
diately about the inn was sandy and poor. The 
building was an extensive, old-fashioned, ram- 
bling frame, with upper and lower porches, 
gabled, intricate, and painted a deep red. It 
stood back from the road, leaving an open ap- 
proach in which was a huge watering trough, a 
hitching rack, and a tall post with an arm, from 
which swung a sign-board on which had been de- 
picted a dubious red lion, resembling rather some 
fabled animal of ancient song. 

In days long gone by, the Red Lion was alive 
from morning till night with bustle and excite- 
ment. Stage-coaches dashed in from the road at 
all hours to change their horses and refresh their 
passengers. Huge covered wagons conveying 
merchandise and grain, drawn by six and eight 
horses, with their jingling bells, made music as 
they turned in to rest and spend the night. Mem- 
bers of Congress riding on horseback to the Cap- 
itol to make and break the laws, merchants, men 
of all degrees, on horseback, in carriages, and on 
foot, tarried at the Lion to eat and drink and 
sleep. Adams, Hamilton, Burr, passed many a 
night there, and extolled the hospitality of Oliver 
Decker in their diaries and letters. Burr drew 
on his credulity and his purse as he halted at the 
Red Lion on his way to embark for Amsterdam, 
and sent a draft on him back over the great 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


39 


water after he reached that ancient city, which, 
however, was allowed to go to protest. His wines 
were spoken of with reverence by the connoisseur, 
and his cooking pronounced faultless. He 
handed down the Lion to his son when he took 
his enforced departure from this inn of good 
things, in all its glory, and with it, as a rich lega- 
cy, some letters from Aaron Burr, and a brief 
sent him by that gentleman, giving a history of 
the great case in the two cities. 

The reign of Oliver the Second was, in the be* 
ginning, as brilliant as that of his father, but two 
powerful enemies rose up against him, one after 
the other, and smote him to the earth — the steam- 
boat and the railroad. 

Mrs. Hollanda Yost, his daughter, inherited the 
lifeless body of the Lion, from which the soul had 
long fled, the Burr papers, and some bonds. 
Without the little income derived from these, 
starvation, as they sat on the porch and looked 
out on the deserted road, would have stared them 
in the face. The visit of young Pilot on Sunday 
was an event that broke the monotony of her 
childless life. Yost, her husband, by long indul- 
gence in chicken-fighting, had acquired a belliger- 
ent expression that an observant stranger would 
have noted as a signal of danger, and fell occasional- 
ly into quarrels out of which he nearly always came 
victorious. He was of middle height, spare, but 
strong and active, and pleasing in his manners 


40 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


when not on the war-path. He had made an ef- 
fort to get possession of Hollanda’s bonds, but he 
issued from the intellectual conflict that followed 
so subdued that he ever after repressed his rising 
anger in her presence. She was a quiet little 
woman and loved Yost, but also had a due appre- 
ciation of herself, and, while refraining from push- 
ing her victory over him, kept him in proper 
subordination while about the house. But she 
could not prevent him from going off occasionally 
at night and on Sunday to attend the fights, when 
he compensated himself for his restraint at home, 
by associating with inferiors. 

Late in August Hollanda went to town to 
make a visit to Mrs. Pilot, John’s mother, who 
was a distant relative. 

“ Alva,” she said, as she mounted the pony 
from the front steps, “you must promise me to 
stay at home and take care of the house while I 
am gone.” 

“That depends,” he answered, “on how long 
you are gone. I am bound to go to the chicken 
fight on Sunday at Slugger’s. I have a bet on the 
red chicken.” 

“ I’ll be back on Saturday,” she said. “Now 
mind. I’ve got your promise — day and 
night.” 

“Yes,” he answered, “ I’ll patch up the garden 
fence and cover the hole in the upper porch floor, 
before some one steps in it and breaks through 


A CASTLE nV THE AIR. 4 1 

the lath and plaster. I can pass the time away 
very well.” 

“ And you can read at night, Alva,” she said. 

You mustn’t stir from the house at night. Get 
down the ‘Mysteries of Udolpho that’s very 
exciting — full of awful things.” 

“ Where is it? ” he inquired, with interest. 

“ On the upper shelf, in the parlor,” she an- 
swered as she rode off. “ And, Alva,” she called 
back, “ put a new railing on the upper porch, while 
you are about it. Somebody will fall over there 
some night, if you don’t.” 

“ All right ! ” he answered, and turned into the 
house, got the book from the parlor, and sat 
down on a rocking-chair on the porch to smoke 
and read. 

“The Mysteries of Udolpho” proved so inter- 
esting that not much work had been done on the 
garden fence, and none elsewhere, when Thurs- 
day evening came and found Yost sitting on the 
porch, deep in its gloomy contents. The scene 
in front of him was in harmony with his book. A 
sandy road that rose and fell as it wound through 
a forest of stunted pine; “old fields ” worn out 
long since and abandoned to nature to re-clothe ; 
a horizon close at hand formed by the jagged 
outline of the melancholy cypress ; the open be- 
tween the porch and the road sparsely grown 
over by a yellow, sickly grass, save at the pump 
and water-trough, where it was rank with noxious 


42 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


weeds and coarse grass ; a broken carriage slowly 
rotting and sinking into the ground on the left, 
its tattered fragments of curtain fluttering in the 
wind ; and an abandoned plow on the right, its 
handle leaning against the fence, and its iron- 
work sunk out of sight in the sandy soil. In front, 
the sign-board swung aslant, creaking on one 
hinge, the other being broken, emitting a sound 
that seemed like a wail over the departed glory 
of the ancient tavern. The rains of many win- 
ters had washed away the head and shoulders of 
the lion, leaving still perceptible to scrutiny the 
faded tail and hind-quarters, fit emblem of the 
fallen fortunes of the inn. 

A turnpike running parallel to the old road 
and several miles to the eastward, near the rail- 
road track, had diverted the last remnant of 
travel, down to the very tramp, who preferred the 
life and animation of the main thoroughfare to 
the secluded walks of life. Yost was surprised, 
on looking up from his book, to see a guest 
driven up to the porch, and dismount from a 
country baker wagon. He closed his book, and 
stepped down to receive him. He was a large 
man, with side-whiskers and a dark complexion. 
He was well dressed, and wore a heavy gold 
chain from which depended a bunch of seals 
and rings. He first drew from his pocket, 
whether in ostentation or through inadver- 
tence, a purse heavy with gold, which shone 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR 


43 


through the openings ; but replaced it and took 
a handful of silver from his pocket and paid the 
driver, who was reluctant to receive anything, as 
he was not a regular carrier, but finally accepted 
a small remuneration, and drove off. Yost took 
up the stranger’s satchel and ushered him into 
the bar-room, producing an old register with a 
pencil tied to it by a woolen string. The guest 
registered in a bold hand : 

Isaac Rinemond,” 

and asked to be shown to his room. Yost took 
up his satchel and preceded him up the stairway 
and out on the front porch, and showed him into 
a room that looked on the road, and opened im- 
mediately above the pump and water-trough. As 
they entered the door, the stranger said, point- 
ing to the broken porch and railing in front of it. 
You don’t keep your porch in very good re- 
pair, landlord ; one of your guests will tumble 
off there some dark night, if you don’t look 
out.” 

‘‘ I intended to repair it, to-day,” he replied, 
but got interested in a book and forgot it. .It 
is not often a guest comes here to tumble off.” 

^‘Not overrun with custom, eh?” the stran- 
ger said. 

“ Next to none,” he answered ; “ will you have 
some supper? ” 

‘‘No supper,” answered the stranger; “ I had 


44 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


a lunch at the station. Quiet place, this. Not 
many passing, I should think.” 

“ None,” answered Yost. “ If you want seclu- 
sion and quiet, this is the shop to find it in.” 

“I want quiet,” he replied. I had little 
sleep last night, and with your permission will go 
to bed. Good night.” 

Yost retired, and the stranger, lighting the can- 
dle as it grew dark, took paper and pencil from 
his satchel, and commenced a letter. After writ- 
ing a few minutes, he laid down his pencil, and 
threw himself on the bed, leaving the door and 
window open to admit the air. 

Yost, on going down stairs, lit a cigar, drew up to 
the table, and resumed his reading by the light of 
a tallow candle. He was still apparently reading, 
his eyes were on the book, when ten o’clock 
came; but he was musing. He had read a pas- 
sage that set his mind off on a train of thought, 
and he sat absorbed in meditation. The bright 
gold that had shone through the stranger’s silk 
thread purse entered his thoughts. He had a vision 
of himself stealing up to the stranger’s room, and 
coming down again with one of the large gold 
pieces to bet on the Sunday chicken-fight. He 
would never miss it — never know, it was gone. 
How silently the persons stole about in the book 
he was reading ! He could do it and the stranger 
never hear the slightest sound. He closed the 
book, took a drink at the bar, lighted, a fresh 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


45 


cigar, and thought it over. What a figure he 
would cut at Slugger’s, flushed with a twenty- 
dollar gold piece ! Hollanda had left him 
but a single dollar — money was so dreadfully 
scarce. He had never stolen before, but he had 
never had such a golden opportunity. The man had 
so much, he would never care for one piece. He 
would be certain to regret it, if he let slip the 
opportunity. Perhaps he had better wait until 
Friday night — Hollanda would not be home until 
Saturday. He took his candle and another drink, 
and retired to his chamber on the ground floor, 
blew out the light and went to bed. His room 
was under the stranger’s, and his window giving 
on the lower porch was open. 

He dreamed Hollanda had returned and 
scolded him for having failed to repair the porch 
above, and demanded the return of the dollar 
she had given him. He remonstrated, saying he 
would need it at the chicken-fight on Sunday. 
But she insisted, and he reluctantly drew it from his 
pocket and offered it to her. Instead of taking 
it, she started back in alarm, and called out in a 
loud tone : 

“Alva, where did you get that gold ?” 

This awoke him, and he sat up in bed. A low 
murmur came through the window from the room 
overhead. The stranger was sleeping heavily. 
The sky had become overcast, and the room was 
dark. After a few minutes he got out of bed, 


46 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


felt about for his stockings, and drew them on^ 
and walked cautiously through the hall into the 
bar-room, groped his way behind the bar, and 
took a glass of liquor. Presently he took another, 
then re-entered -the hall, and silently ascended 
the stairs, went out on the upper porch, and ap- 
proached the stranger’s room. “ The little table 
stands against the wall,” he thought ; and the 
chair will be at the bedside with the clothes on 
it.” Rain began to fall, and as he reached the 
door and peered in a flash of lightning disclosed 
the interior as he had prefigured it. He entered 
and walked quickly on tiptoe to the chair, and 
took up the coat in which he had seen the purse 
put, and which lay, as the flash had shown him, 
across the seat. As he did so, the remainder of 
the clothing which hung over its back over- 
balanced it, and it fell to the floor. The stran- 
ger sprang up. At this moment a flash of light- 
ning, followed by a sharp peal of thunder, showed 
him Yost, in his shirt and drawers, in the act 
of dropping the coat, and turning to retreat. The 
stranger sprang on him and they clinched. 
Yost’s blood now rose. He put forth his strength 
to loosen his opponent’s grasp and escape, but in 
vain ; though more active, he was overmatched 
in weight. They struggled over the room and on 
to the porch, amid flashing lightning and peals of 
thunder. The stranger’s foot entered the hole 
in front of the broken railing, and he fell back- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


47 


ward, letting go his hold, and reaching out to 
save himself. His body broke off the spout of 
the pump beneath in its fall, and sunk in the 
water-trough, the head striking violently on its 
inner edge. Yost heard the splash. Panting for 
breath, he ran down to the bar, lit a lantern, and 
hurried to the front. The body of the stranger 
was submerged. He raised the head out of the 
water, but, seeing he was dead, let it fall back 
with a shudder, and re-entered the house. After 
drinking a small glass, full to the brim, of liquor, 
and lighting a cigar, he ascended to the room 
above, took the purse from behind the pillow, 
not finding it in the pockets of the clothing, and 
took out a twenty-dollar gold piece, replacing the 
purse by the watch where he had found it. He 
set up the chair, put back the clothing as he had 
seen it when he peered in before the tragedy, 
returned to the bar-room, and sat smoking and 
drinking gloomily for an hour, when he went 
back to bed, saying, as he drew the covering 
over his head, 

“ I have succeeded, — but what a success ! ” 

About sunrise on the next morning, Yost 
entered the bar, breakfasted on a glass of brandy 
and a cigar, and again ascended to the stranger’s 
room. He went to the bed, and, taking the purse 
from behind the pillow, put back the gold piece 
he had abstracted in the night, and replaced the 
purse. He readjusted the clothes on the chair. 


48 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


and examined the room and porch for any marks 
of the late struggle, but found none. The 
stranger had been in his bare feet, and Yost in 
his stockings, and they had left no scratch on the 
floors. He noticed the letter on the little table, 
and, without touching it, leaned over and read : 

“ Ihursday night. 

“ Dear Dick : Put something in the Evening 
News about a certain cashier being seen on the 
steamer for Liverpool that left to-day. Will 
write fully to-morrow. Safe, I think. This 
place is a ghostly inn, on a ghostly road, with a 
landlord, the only soul in it beside myself, whose 
face does not inspire confidence. Before going to 
sleep, I will hide the ‘bundle ’ for fear of a call in 
the night, especially as it is so hot I must leave 
the window and door open to get breath. But I 
am a match for most men, and can handle the 
host if he should call, if awake. The stake is too 
great, though, to run chances. Head your 
article ‘ Off for Europe,’ and begin thus : ” 

The letter here broke off, and was written in 
such a rapid, running scrawl that it was difficult 
to make out. Yost, however, studied it over 
until he got the sense of it. Then, descending to 
the bar, he cut the pencil loose that was tied to 
the register, and, not finding any paper, picked 
up the “Mysteries of Udolpho,” and, returning, 
copied the letter on the margin of the leaver 


A CASTLE IN THE A IE. 


49 


where the book opened, which happened to be 
where he had been reading when he got his in- 
spiration and had turned down the corner the 
night before. He had an uncultivated but 
natural gift of imitation, and copied the hand- 
writing with fidelity. He refrained from using 
the pencil and extra paper lying on the table, he 
had touched nothing in the room but the clothes 
and the purse. Having accomplished this, he 
pressed the sides of the book tightly together, 
put it in its place on the book-shelf in the parlor, 
tied the pencil to the register, and, fortifying him- 
self with a tumbler of brandy, set out on a rapid 
walk down the road toward the country town. 
On reaching the first house, he paid out the 
dollar Hollanda had left him for the hire of a 
horse, notified the people of the death, telling 
them not to go up until the coroner came by, and 
galloped in and summoned him to hold an 
inquest. 

The coroner and his jury viewed the body, sent 
for the driver of the baker wagon, and examined 
the witnesses. The driver said the stranger had 
met him on a side road near the pike, and 
requested him to drive him to the nearest tavern 
on the old road. Yost gave a detailed account of 
his arrival, registry, and retirement to his chamber. 
He said the was awakened in the night by some 
noise, sat up in bed, and listened. The rain was 
falling heavily, but hearing nothing further, he lay 


50 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


down and went to sleep. That, going out to the 
pump early in the morning for water to wash, he 
discovered the body in the trough, and, without 
waiting for breakfast, had set out for the coroner. 
The room and porch were examined, and the 
money, watch, clothes, letter, and satchel taken 
possession of, and the verdict rendered that the 
stranger, Isaac Rinemond, came to his death by 
an accidental fall from the upper porch of the Old 
3©^ Red Lion some time during the night of the 
of August of the present year. And they 
“ further find that Alva Yost, the landlord, has 
been guilty of carelessness in leaving his porch- 
floor ane railing in a dangerous condition." 

Six or eight months prior to this event, John 
Pilot had placed a mortgage on his mother’s little 
home, and gone to New York, rented a cheap of- 
fice on Fish Street, and taken cheap lodging in its 
vicinity A few months sufficed to satisfy him that, 
with all his activity, a long time would probably 
elapse before he would make even his board and 
office rent. In casting about in his mind for ways 
and means to keep afloat, it occurred to him that 
if the Yosts could be induced to come to the city 
he could board with them on credit on a pinch, 
and even borrow money from Hollanda to pay 
the office rent, if pushed to extremity. He ac- 
cordingly wrote to her, saying they could make 
a good living and lay up money by opening a pri- 
vate boarding-house on some quiet street, and 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


51 


that he would, if they thought well of his sugges- 
tion, look about and secure a suitable house, and 
would be glad to take a room himself, and do 
what he could to secure them custom. 

Hollanda was conservative and cautious, and 
she suspected Pilot had his own reasons for writ- 
ing ; but life at the Lion was doleful, and Yost was 
running with bad company ; and after consider- 
ing the matter for a month or so she mounted 
her pony, as already related, and rode into town 
to talk it over with Mrs. Pilot. When she re- 
turned to the old inn, and found it “ stained with 
blood,” as she expressed it, by their carelessness, 
soon to be haunted, as she verily believed, by the 
spirit of the ill-cared-for guest, a gloom fell on her; 
she felt that its fortunes were indeed at a low ebb. 
It was true that custom had long since departed 
from the Red Lion, but the memory of its glorious 
past remained and was cherished ; and now, after 
nearly two hundred years of honorable existence, 
a house that bore on its old registers the names 
of the highest in the land, even the honored name 
of Washington, a house without stain or blemish, 
was to see its daughter, the last of the Deckers, 
driven from its shelter by the ghost of a murdered 
guest. It was too horrible ! 

Soon a rumor spread through the country that 
the Red Lion was haunted. A man out coon- 
hunting, crossing the hill back of the inn, at mid- 
night saw the spirit of the departed stranger, 


52 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR, 


quite plain, gliding between two rocks. He 
related his adventure at Slugger’s on the follow- 
ing night. 

“ And what did it look like ? ” inquired old 
Slugger, a little startled, snuffing the candle with 
his thumb and forefinger. 

“ Why, it looked like him, that’s what it looked 
like. The dogs went through fust a snuffin’ for 
a track with their noses to the ground, and it fol- 
lered the last dog.” 

Did it have its nose to the ground, Sam ? ” in- 
quired one of the worst scared in the groups at- 
tempting the facetious to keep his courage up and 
appear bold. 

No, it didn’t have its nose to the ground,” an- 
swered Sam with indignation, in which the rest 
joined him ; “but I’ll tell you what it is, my fine 
feller, it’ll git your nose under ground some dark 
night, if you don’t mind your ps and qs. Them 
spirits don’t stand no jokin’. I wouldn’t go home 
in your shoes to-night, after what you’ve said, not 
for nothin’ ! ” 

Never mind,” interposed Slugger, as the face- 
tious one turned pale at the prospect before him ; 
“give us its description, Sam. How was it 
dressed? ” 

“Why, it wasn’t dressed at all in particular,” 
answered Sam. “ I was so skeered I didn’t notice. 
It mought have had a shirt and drawers on like 
him, when the jury tuk him out of the trough. 


A CASTLE m THE AIR. 


53 


and, come to remember, I think it had ; Tm pretty 
sure it didn’t have no socks on ; leastways if it 
had I didn’t notice ’em.” 

“ Was it walkin’, or runnin’, or how ? ” inquired 
a curious listener. 

“ Why, it wasn’t a- doin’ one nor tother,” an- 
swered Sam. “ It seemed to glide like ; put me 
in mind of a feller slidin’ swift on ice.” 

“ It’s possible it might have been a live man, 
after all,” said one of the company. 

Live man,” echoed Sam with contempt. “ Do 
you think I can’t tell a live man from a dead one? 
Can you see through a live man ? And I seed 
through him and out on t’other side as plain as 
day. And my hair riz up as stiff as a poker. Do 
you think my hair’ll rise for a live man? Not 
much! Leastways I got to meet him yit. He 
don’t live round these parts. Live man ! ” 

“ No offense meant, Sam,” answered the 
other. 

“ And none taken,” replied Sam ; “ only it riles 
me to hear a man ask a ridiculous question.” 

“ Did it seem to be a-huntin’ after anythin’? ” in- 
quired one of the audience with a blanched face. 
“ Course it couldn’t a been after the coon, as 
spirits don’t take no interest in sich like, and 
can’t eat nohow. No one ever heerd of a spirit 
going a coon huntin’, but what was he a-follerin’ 
of the dogs fur? That’s what bothers me.” 

“ Why, it’s my opinion, gentle;;/^//,” answered 


54 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Sam, ‘‘and I ought to know somethin' about it if 
any man does." 

“Of course," “certainly," came from the 
audience. 

“ It’s my opinion," he continued, “ that that 
spirit didn’t know the dogs hed gone through 
afore it ; otherwise it’s likely it would have gone 
round the rocks ; that stands to reason." 

“ It mought have followed the dogs to cast a 
spell on ’em and spoil the hunt," said one. I’ve 
heerd my granny say they’re full o’ castin’ 
spells." 

“ Did you catch any coon after that ? ’’ inquired 
another anxiously. 

“No, I didn’t," replied Sam. “The fact is, 
gentle;;2^;/, I didn’t hunt no more that night." 

“ That spirit wasn’t a-huntin’ no coon," said old 
Slugger, who had been listening intently, in a 
mysterious tone that arrested general attention ; 
“ but I know what it was a huntin’. It was a 
huntin’ that there bundle he spoke in his letter 
of a-hidin’ afore he went to sleep. That’s what 
it was a-huntin’." 

“ I sh’d think it would remember where it had 
hid it," said some one. 

“You don’t know nothin’ about spirits," re- 
plied Slugger, “ to talk like that. Everybody 
knows that spirits can’t remember never where 
they hid things afore they came to be spirits ; a 
child knows that. And what’s more, no spirit 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


55 


never finds the thing it’s a-huntin’ fur. This 
spirit won’t find that bundle, if it hunts till dooms- 
day, as it will, for it must ; mark my words.” 

“ It must be gold,” said Sam, “ or it wouldn’t 
trouble him so.” 

It’s somethin’ valuable,” said Slugger, “ you 
may depend on that, or it wouldn’t a come back 
to hunt it up. It won’t find it, but somebody 
else may, and I pity the man that does.” 

‘‘ Why so ? ” inquired Sam. 

“ Because,” answered Slugger, with a dark 
look, “ it will hant him to death, that’s why.” 


CHAPTER V. 


THE EVIL GENIE OF THE CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

S EVERAL charitable women successively 
called on Hollanda, choosing The hour of 
midday, when the sun was in its meridian, and 
the danger from ghosts at a minimum, and gave 
her detailed accounts of the several apparitions 
of the troubled spirit that haunted the vicinity 
of the Red Lion. 

“ They say, my dear,” said one of these good 
souls to Hollanda, “ that no one has yet seen it 
beyond a mile from the Lion, and that is its limit, 
and it hasn’t the power to go further off. Old 
Mother Wolford says — I heard her myself — that if 
you take a tape-line and measure back from the 
furthest point it has appeared at, back to the 
water-trough, you will find it falls considerably 
short of a mile. They daren’t go near the limit 
for fear they should accidentally get over a step. 
If they do, she says, they can never get back, and 
go moaning around in a circle forever, or catch 
fire and burn up with a blue flame. I hope it 
don’t come into the house, my dear; you haven’t 
seen it, have you ? ” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 57 

** I have heard it,” answered Hollanda, “but I 
don’t wish to talk about it.” 

“ I am afraid,” said the visitor, “ that if it has 
got into the house you will never get rid of it. 
Mother Wolford says there is only one way that 
she has ever heard of to lay a house-ghost, and 
that’s to burn the house down.” 

“ If Mother Wolford is right about the circle, I 
suppose I can get rid of it by moving out of the 
house,” said Hollanda, “ and that I’ll do. 
Whether she is right or wrong, it will not be 
likely to follow me if I move far off.” 

“ And where do you think of going, my dear? ” 
inquired the visitor. 

“To the city,” answered Hollanda, “and 
if you will carry a letter back with you and post 
it I will sit down now and take the first step.” 

She accordingly wrote to Pilot to look for a 
furnished house such as he had described, and 
that she would give her bonds as security for the 
rent. She, in company with Yost, w’ent up to the 
city and concluded an arrangement, but returned 
to make some disposition of the Old Lion. They 
could not obtain a tenant on any terms ; no one 
would move into it, rent free, merely for the care- 
taking. They were accordingly compelled to 
lock up and abandon it to the sole occupation of 
the disembodied spirit of its last guest. Hollanda 
nailed down all the windows and shutters and 
double-locked the doors, save those pertaining to 


58 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


the fatal chamber. This she would on no account 
approach, and it was left as it was when the 
Coroner passed out of it in the rear of his jury — 
the bed unmade, and the window and door open. 
The furniture was packed away in the extensive 
garret, and the pony sold at a low price, as he 
was supposed to be more or less involved in 
mystery. Slugger was induced by Yost to take 
charge of the keys, with power to rent, only, how- 
ever, after taking his oath that a certain key was 
not among them. He was induced by friendship 
alone, Slugger said, to take the bunch in at all ; 
and on no account would he involve himself to 
that extent. He hoped no harm would come to 
him, as it was. As Hollanda passed under the 
sign, departing from her old home forever, the 
Lion moaned on its solitary hinge, and she 
looked up on its faded remnant and wept. Yost 
bore himself with more fortitude. He looked 
back, as they drove down the sandy road, at the 
old building, and fixed his gaze, until the pines 
obscured it, on the broken railing of the upper 
porch, and the open doorway of the fatal 
chamber. 

The house selected by Pilot for the Yosts, with 
an eye to his own convenience, was as near his 
office as a suitable one could be obtained. It was 
a plain two-story, standing on the street, plainly 
furnished, with several rooms to rent. Pilot took 
possession of the best of these, on the front, and 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


59 


made himself comfortable, well satisfied that his 
effort had been crowned with success and that he 
had, as it were, succeeded in casting an anchor to 
windward. Hollanda was rejoiced at the change, 
and managed the house with economy and indus- 
try. Several day boarders were soon secured, 
and two, including Pilot's, of the rooms to rent, 
occupied. It was not yet paying expenses, but 
promised well. 

Yost was also glad of the change. He had 
become quiet and domestic, and made himself 
useful in the new establishment ; but much of his 
time hung heavy on his hands. His mind was 
frequently occupied with the unfinished letter 
that he had copied into the “ Mysteries of 
Udolpho.” What could the “bundle” mean? 
Bank-notes or bonds, surely. If he could find the 
heirs of Rinemond, and be the means of restoring 
the “ bundle,” he would feel relieved, and doubt- 
less be richly compensated. Where could it be 
hidden ? Probably under the mattress of the bed. 
Strange that the coroner had not looked for it ; 
he evidently thought that it was the gold in the 
purse alluded to in the letter as the “ bundle,” 
for, as Yost now remembered, when the purse 
was found he had said “ he called it a queer 
name.” The authorities at the county town, 
Benvelt, had advertised for the heirs of Isaac 
Rinemond ; but no one had appeared to claim his 


6o 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


effects. Who was “ Dick ” to whom the lettei 
had been written ? If he could find “ Dick,” the 
mystery would be solved at once. Dick was to 
publish something in the Evening News; per- 
haps they would know him there. Here was a 
clew. He consulted the Directory at the corner 
drug-store, and made his way to the office of the 
Daily Evening News., where he inquired for a 
.gentleman named Richard, whose last name had 
escaped his memory. He was answered sharply 
that no man named Richard was connected with 
the establishment, and was turning away disap- 
pointed, when a clerk, who had overheard the 
conversation, said, 

“ Perhaps he means Dick Rush.” 

“Yes,” replied Yost, “ that is the man.” 

“ He is not employed here, but brings in an 
occasional article for publication,” said the first 
speaker. 

“ Do you think he will be in soon? ” inquired 
Yost. 

“ I couldn’t say,” was the answer. “ Pie may 
be in any day. Maybe not for weeks.” 

“If I leave a note for him, will he get it?” 
inquired Yost. 

“Yes ; drop it in that letter-box,” he answered 
sharply, and resumed his work. 

Yost wrote the following note, dropped it into 
the box, and returned home ; 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


6i 


“ Friday, 21st December. 
To Richard Rush, Esq 

Daily News Office. 

Sir: If you will call at my house. No. 501 
Fish Street, you will hear from a missing friend. 

Alva Yost.” 

On opening the door on Christmas eve, in ans- 
wer to the bell, Mr. Richard Rush presented his 
card to Yost, and was invited in. Yost showed 
him to the little parlor, which was unoccupied. 

“ I received your note only this evening,” he 
said, “ and came directly up, my curiosity being 
somewhat excited.” 

Mr. Rush,” said Yost, drawing his chair to 
the table close to him, “ before giving you the 
intelligence I have it in my mind to communi- 
cate, you must answer me a few questions can- 
didly.” 

“Very well,” he answered, surprised at the 
solemnity of Yost. “ Put your questions ; I’ll 
answer candidly, if I see fit to answer at all.” 

“In the first place, then,” said Yost, “are you 
a blood relative of Isaac Rinemond ? ” 

“ I am not,” he answered. 

“Are you related to him by marriage?” then 
inquired Yost. 

“ No,” he answered. 

“Had you any business relations with him?” 

“ None,” was the answer. 

“You were simply a friend, then?” said Yost. 


62 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“Simply, I was not a friend, ” he rejoined. 

“ Then in what relation do you stand to him ? “ 
asked Yost. 

“ In no relation,” he answered. 

“You don’t pretend to say you don’t know 
him?” said Yost in astonishment. 

“ I don’t pretend to any thing,” he answered, 
“but I do say, in answer to your implied ques- 
tion, that I don’t know him.” 

Yost leant back in his chair, and looked the 
young man in the eye, frowningly ; but he bore it 
without flinching. 

“ Will you keep your seat, and wait for me a 
few minutes?” he said, at length. 

“ Certainly,” he answered, bowing politely ; and 
Yost left the room. He went to another apart- 
ment, and, taking down the “ Mysteries of Udol- 
pho,” copied from the fragmentary letter on the 
margin the following : 

“Dear Dick: Put something in the Evening 
News about a certain cashier being seen on the 
steamer for Liverpool that left to-day. Will write 
fully to-morrow. Safe, I think.” 

“ If you don’t know the man,” he said, as he 
re-entered the parlor, “ perhaps you know his 
handwriting. Read that,” and he handed him the 
slip. 

Rush studied it over carefully, and said : 

“ Whoever wrote it writes a hand difficult to 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 63 

read, but I have made it out. The writing is un- 
known to me and he handed it back. 

‘‘ I copied it from the opening of a letter writ- 
ten by Rinemond,” answered Yost; ‘‘but the 
handwriting is as like the original as like can be.” 

“ I dare say,” answered Rush ; “ but still, it is 
a difhcult matter to catch, in copying, the pecu- 
liarities of a writer by which his hand is recog- 
nized. If you let me see the original, perhaps I 
may recognize it.” 

“The original is not on view at present,” Yost 
answered. 

“Very well,” said Rush, rising; “if you have 
nothing further to communicate, I will bid you 
good-evening,” 

“Mr. Rush,” said Yost, “take your seat a 
moment. They informed me at the News office 
that you were the only Richard Rush that had 
any connection with the paper. That being so, 
I am under the impression that the address at the 
end of the letter to ‘ Richard Rush, office of the 
Evening News, N. Y.,’ was intended for you.” 

This hit succeeded. Rush reddened, and, for 
an instant, lost his self-possession. 

“If you have a letter addressed to me, Mr. 
Yost,” he said, “you hold it unlawfully, and I 
demand that you give it up.” 

Yost laughingly replied: 

“ I have an exact copy of every word in it, but 
not the original. You can hardly demand my 


64 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


copy, which is my private property. The origi- 
nal, with other matters of interest to the friends 
of Rinemond, are not in my hands at present.'' 

Rush leaned his elbow on the table with his 
hand to his head, and thought ; presently he 
looked up and said : 

“ Mr. Yost, you keep a boarding-house?” 

“ I do,” he answered. 

‘‘ Have you a vacant room to rent, and a place 
at your table ? ” 

“ I have both at your service,” Yost replied. 

“ Will you show me the room ? ” 

“ With pleasure,” he answered ; and leading 
the way upstairs, showed the two vacant rooms ; 
and Rush, selecting the best, paid a week’s board 
and lodging in advance, and the next morning, 
Christmas, moved in. Yost, when he saw Rush 
settled in his room, took down the “ Mysteries of 
Udolpho ” from the bookcase, and locked it up 
in his trunk. 

Richard Rush was a slight-built young man, of 
twenty-eight or thirty, rather tall, scrupulously 
dressed, active and stirring, and untiring in his 
efforts to advance himself. He made his first 
appearance in the world, after leaving the ob- 
scure village that gave him birth, in the city of 
Washington, where, by means of cards of intro- 
duction from a high official who took some in- 
terest in him, and assiduous calling on those in 
power and their families where he could force 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


65 


himself in, he succeeded in receiving a commis- 
sion from one of the departments of the govern- 
ment to carry an empty carpet-bag into the 
stricken South. His mission was to fill it, and 
he so exerted himself that in a surprisingly short 
time, considering the poverty of the land, he 
returned to New York with it quite stuffed out. 
He joined a club, and made acquaintance rapidly 
among the moneyed men, the bankers and brok- 
ers. He visited Wall Street and closely studied 
the mode of transacting business, and bought 
and sold cautiously, until he thought he under- 
stood the game, when, seeing a golden opportu- 
tunity, he put out all his suddenly acquired 
wealth on margins on a line of stocks, and came 
out of the heroic venture a financial wreck. He 
retained his place in his club, and continued his 
visits to Wall Street, not on his own account, but 
as secret agent of cashiers, club friends who felt 
a delicacy in having their names appear in the 
dubious transactions carried on in that quarter. 
He was a glib writer of words unattached to 
ideas, and turned a penny by the sale of short 
stories and articles on various subjects, none of 
which he understood. He was reticent about 
himself and his affairs, and prying as to the busi- 
ness and lives of those he came in contact with, 
and whom he thought it to his interest to study. 
He had no vices that could interfere with success 
in life, using neither strong drinks nor tobacco. 


66 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


and was incessantly on foot and watching to 
catch opportunity by the forelock. With all this 
he was not succeeding beyond supplying his 
wants, which were not wasteful. Very few of 
those who met him familiarly knew any thing 
concerning his history prior to his invasion of 
the South, or of his family, of whom he never 
spoke ; but it leaked out in some way, probably 
by a visit of some one from his native county to 
the club, and was whispered about, that he was 
millus Jilius. 

The name, “ Isaac Rinemond,” entered on 
the register of the Red Lion by the unfortunate 
stranger, was indeed unknown to him, for it was 
assumed at the moment of the entry ; but the 
handwriting was not ; he recognized it instantly, 
and knew the letter was meant for him. The 
writer before leaving the city had confided 
in him, and secured his future assistance under a 
promise of a share in the proceeds of the “ bun- 
dle,” when it became safe to turn it into money. 
He was not aware of the direction of his flight, 
as it was undetermined when they separated, 
and was exceedingly anxious to learn of his 
whereabouts, though cautious not to acknowl- 
edge any connection with him. He cultivated 
the friendship of every inmate of the house (ex- 
cepting the transient boarders, whom he treated 
with polite hauteur) down to Barnaby Snodgrass, 
the man of all work, who attended the fires and 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


67 


blacked the boots. He gave “ Barney ” liberal 
fees, and soon won his confidence to such an 
extent that, in a moment when his caution was 
laid asleep by potations, to which he was periodi- 
cally addicted, he drew from him an account of 
his fall, for Barney had descended in accepting 
his present position for board and such cast-off 
clothing and fees as fell to him from the lodgers. 
It seemed that Barney had risen by merit to the 
position of clerk in a real estate office, not in a 
fashionable part of the city, however, and had 
inadvertently put a trifling sum into his pocket 
instead of putting it in the office till. For this 
one error of judgment he had been ignominiously 
expelled, had taken to drink, and sunk to the 
level that he now bemoaned. Rush consoled 
him, and told him that he would come out yet, 
especially if he could be of service to him in bring- 
ing him the private conversations he might over- 
hear, as there was something he wanted to get 
to the bottom of. Thus an alliance was formed 
that promised to be productive of mutual benefit. 
He frequently dropped into Pilot’s room, and 
called at his office, and induced a quarrelsome 
neighbor to retain him in a trifling case. He 
made but little progress with Hollanda, who dis- 
trusted him, and he and Yost stood off, watching 
each other, each waiting for the other to advance. 

Plollanda,” said Yost one evening as they 
were seated by the dining-room fire together, 


68 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


“ Now we are in the city, don’t you think we 
ought to make a little inquiry after your case? 
Maybe something might be done with it. What 
do you think ? ” 

^‘It is too long gone by,” she answered. If 
my grandfather failed, what can we do at this late 
day? No, let it rest.” 

“ Why, as to that,” he said, age may not hurt 
it . It might be worth looking into anyway.” 

“No,” she answered, “we have no money to 
waste on chances.” 

“ But it wouldn’t cost much merely to have a 
look at the record,” he said. “ If I was a lawyer, 
I would go down to the office and look into it 
myself.” 

“ You may go, if you like, if it doesn’t cost any 
thing,” she replied ; “but it will ; they will charge 
you fees at every step you take. The family has 
already spent sums on the case ; let it rest.” 

“You have the papers with you ? ” he inquired. 

“Yes,” she answered, “ I have the papers with 
me, and shall always take the best of care of them ; 
for I am sure we have the right on our side, and 
can’t help thinking that some day we may have 
the might as well. But a rich Decker must bring 
it about, if at all, not a poor one.” 

“ How about Pilot ? ” he said, after musing a 
few minutes, “ perhaps he would examine the rec- 
ords for a trifle. He has plenty of time.” 

“ How stupid you are, Alva,” she replied. “ If 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


69 


we take one step we will be led on to another and 
another, until we are ruined. No; say no more 
about it, if you please.” 

This conversation was duly reported to Rush 
by Barney, who overheard it ; and, calling at Pilot’s 
office on the following morning. Rush said to him : 

Pilot, I am informed that Mrs. Yost has a 
case that I think you ought to get, and make 
something out of ; an old affair ; do you know any 
thing of it ? ” 

“Yes,” he replied, “it is the old Decker case ; 
I have heard my mother speak of it. It’s older 
than the hills.” 

“ Much involved ? ” inquired Rush. 

“ Millions,” he answered. “ Old Burr was in it 
in his day.” 

“There must be some bottom to it, if he took 
it in hand,” said Rush. “Where does the prop- 
erty lie ? ” 

“ Here in the city, and in old Amsterdam,” 
Pilot answered. “ There must be no end to its 
value now.” 

“ Let us put our heads together and make some- 
thing out of this thing,” said Rush. “ Mrs. Yost 
has the papers.” 

“You will not get her to stir in the matter,” 
said Pilot, “ and you won’t get a look at the papers. 
I know her well. It is useless to try.” 

Rush drew a sheet of paper to him, and quickly 
wrote the following item for the Evening News : 


70 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


It is said the heirs of Decker, after a long 
period of inaction, are again in motion to recover 
their vast estate. Some missing paper, however, 
we are informed, is causing them trouble and de- 
laying action. How much truth there is in this 
report we are unable to say.” 

“ There,” he said, as he pushed the paper over 
the table to Pilot, “ that will bring the papers out 
of the landlady’s lock-up.” 

“Yes,” assented Pilot in admiration, “that will 
bring them.” 

The item was read out by Rush from the 
Neivs at breakfast the next morning. The 
boarders congratulated H ollanda. Y ost excitedly 
remarked on the singular coincidence of its coming 
on the very day following their conversation on 
the subject. Pilot said his services were at their 
disposal, free of charge, as he had idle time and 
they were old friends; but Hollanda said she 
would pay a contingent fee conditional on re- 
covery. She could not afford to do more or less. 
The papers were produced — the brief of Burr, the 
proof of kinship — and committed to the custody 
of Pilot, who bore them off to his office, followed 
soon after by Rush, the evil genie. They pored 
over them for several days, and then began a 
series of articles or items, all touching on some 
feature of the Decker case, nowin one paper, now 
in another, which were copied by the country 
press, and brought down a shower of letters con- 


A CASV'LE IN’ THE AIR. 7l 

taiiiing ten-dollar bills on John Pilot, No. lo 
Fish Street, whose name, address, and connection 
with the case as chief attorney were^ artfully and 
casually introduced into every article. 


CHAPTER VI. 


TIDINGS FROM ACROSS THE OCEAN. 
MONG the Burr papers was found a family 



ii. tree, most artistically constructed and 
colored with all the tints of the rainbow. On it 
was seated, on his proper branch, each person who 
had come forward at that early day and, by fee 
and otherwise, established his character as a 
genuine Decker. Barney, who had acquired in 
the real estate office some skill as a draughtsman, 
was spared from his duties at the house to make 
some plats of the New York property and a fair 
copy of this tree, placing upon it, however, in lieu 
of the ancient Deckers, those of the present gen- 
eration who had entitled themselves to seats on 
its branches by their liberality, and filling it up 
with fictitious names. It was intimated to Barney 
at the same time that if he made himself very use- 
ful in the affairs pertaining to this business, and 
was secret and faithful, he would be promoted, if 
all turned out well, to a clerkship in the office. 
Rush threw out this intimation under injunctions 
of the strictest confidence and silence. 

When Samuel Decker, of Rosedow, made his 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


73 


offer of five thousand dollars for an interest, it 
was one of these fictitious Deckers that assigned 
over to him his inheritance, and it became neces- 
sary to find some one to personate him and attach 
his name to the transfer. After the duties of the 
night were performed, Barney came by appoint- 
ment to the office of Pilot and found Rush await- 
ing him. 

“ Barney,” said he, “ you know there are tricks 
in all trades.” 

Yes,” replied Barney, “ we had them in the 
real estate business ; they all have them, of 
course.” 

“Well,” resumed Rush, “the lawyers have 
them too ; and one of theirs, which they are 
obliged to practice to do business at all, is to use 
fictitious names in their law papers. Now, some 
clients don’t like tricks, though they are not 
injured by them in the least, and when they find 
a fictitious name in their papers they come to 
their lawyer and raise a row. The lawyer ex- 
amines the name carefully and swears he never 
put it there — and he never does, for fear his hand- 
writing should betray him, but has his clerk do it — 
says it’s carelessness, and shan’t occur again. The 
client goes out satisfied, and no harm is done. 
Don’t you see ? ” 

“Yes,” answered Barney, dubiously, “I see.” 

“ Very well. Now, in this Decker business, 
Pilot finds it necessary in making out the case to 


74 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


use from time to time the fictitious names on the 
tree you copied so splendidly, until he succeeds in 
finding the real men, when their names will be 
substituted. He will simply ask the clerk of the 
court to permit him to substitute such and such 
names for such and such others that slipped in 
through a mistaken notion that they were heirs, 
when it has turned out that they were not. Now, 
this is all there is in it, and yet Pilot is compelled 
to keep it perfectly secret until the real men are 
hunted up, or it will upset his whole case. Here 
is a paper he wants to file in the morning, and as 
he was called out to-night he requested me to ex- 
plain it to you and have you sign it.” 

“ But it might get me into trouble some day,” 
said Barney, uneasily. 

“ Not in the least,” answered Rush. “ Even ad- 
mitting there was any danger to any body in it, 
which there is not, who would ever know that you 
wrote the name ? Why, nobody. Look here, 
Barney,” he continued, “ Pilot says that as soon 
as this case is wound up he will take you in as 
clerk at seventy dollars a month, and, in the mean- 
time, pay you for each little service you render 
him. He gave me this ten to hand you to-night 
for the tree and your signing this paper. Take 
the pen, man, and sign the name of Thaddeus 
Decker here at the bottom.” 

Barney took the pen from Rush and signed the 
name with a trembling hand, which, as Thaddeus 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


75 


was supposed to be advanced in years, was all the 
better. He took up the gold piece from the 
table, and, going out, drowned his apprehensions 
is the flowing bowl. 

Rush entered the office of a starving notary 
and, personating Thaddeus, threw on the table 
double the usual fee and received his signature 
and notarial seal to the statement that he per- 
sonally knew Rush to be Thaddeus Decker, the 
person named in the conveyance ; and Pilot car- 
ried the document to Rosedow, and returned with 
the sum of five thousand dollars, which he divided 
evenly according to agreement with Richard 
Rush. 

The receipt of letters now began to diminish 
rapidly, and it became apparent that the income 
from that quarter would soon cease to be signifi- 
cant. Rush made a list of the most promising 
writers, and got from the intelligence office their 
financial status ; and, selecting the most available, 
opened a special correspondence with a view to 
the sale to them of the interests of what he 
termed incredulous or impecunious heirs. This 
resulted in his making visits in the city and incur- 
sions into the neighboring States. Some sales 
were made, but at insignificant and disappointing 
figures, and many rebuffs met with that the high- 
toned emissary could not brook. On receipt of 
the last of these, he abandoned this promiscuous 
hunt, and turned his entire attention to running 


76 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


to earth the proprietor of Rosedow. The gentle- 
man who caused this change of tactics was a 
speculator, daring and rich, and a Decker, who 
had not responded in any way to the advertise- 
ment, and had not yet been communicated with. 
His family was abroad, and he was living engarqon 
at the St. Nicholas. Rush called in the evening 
and found him quite at leisure, drinking hot 
punches with a friend. He entered into the 
examination and discussion of the tree and papers 
with pleasure, and displayed a familiarity with 
the case. He was an heir, he said, and had long 
known the history of the claim, but generally, 
never having given it any special study. Rush 
was delighted, and with great cunning felt his 
way along from the immense value of the property 
to the good prospects of recovery, for which he 
drew on Burr, down to the impecunious heirs who 
could be bought out, for the interests of two of 
whom he was then in negotiation. “ These 
things to hear ” the speculator so seriously inclined 
that Rush, emboldened, made him a distinct and 
formal offer to furnish him a transfer unencum- 
bered of them both for thirty thousand dollars. 

How much do you think the two will even- 
tually pan out ? ” inquired the speculator. 

The two together,” answered Rush, “ are 
double the value of your own interest. You all 
three stand on the tree at the same distance 
from Hendrik Dekker, the common ancestor.” 


A CASTLE JiV THE AIR. 


77 


“ And how much do you think my interest is 
worth now?” he inquired. “ Come, be honest.” 

“ That will depend upon what amount of back 
rents the court will allow,” Rush answered, “ and 
on the rate of interest allowed in Holland.” 

“ Certainly,” answered the speculative Decker. 
“I understand that perfectly well. You have 
studied the subject closely, however, and ought 
to be able to come somewhere near the present 
value of my interest.” 

“Well,” said Rush, taking up a pencil, and 
making a few figures on a paper before him, “ I 
should say that your interest is worth to-day not 
much short of a million.” 

“ I pledge you my word,” said the speculator, 
“ and call this gentleman,” turning to his com- 
panion, “ to witness it, that I will transfer to you 
my interest in the great Decker estate, now, at 
this table, if you will hand me over in considera- 
tion the sum of ten dollars.” 

Rush was so utterly taken aback at this, and 
showed his discomfiture so plainly in his face, 
that the speculator leaned back in his chair and 
burst into a fit of laughter, in which he was 
joined by his companion ; and Rush rose and, 
hastily gathering up his papers, left the room. 

“ It’s a mercy,” he muttered, after getting into 
the air and somewhat recovering his self-posses- 
sion, “ that the Rosedow Decker is not a man 
after that fashion.” 


78 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


For several days following this mortifying 
event, Rush had his meals brought to his room 
on the plea of sickness, and occupied his time 
in meditation and writing. His seclusion over, 
he walked after breakfast to a Dutch quarter of 
the city, and had some papers which he had 
written translated into Hollandaise, and ordered 
a cheap leaden seal made, which he called for as 
he came up to supper. During the evening he 
went to the office and entered into a review 
with Pilot on the state of affairs. 

‘‘ Pilot,” he said, after some discussion, I can 
trap a Decker every day and not half try ; but 
when I catch him, what does he amount to ? 
His pocket is empty, or hasn’t enough in it to 
pay for the bait. I am getting sick of chasing 
these pecuniary shadows. As to a rich Decker, 
it’s easier to catch a fox. I felt perfectly cer- 
tain I had the St. Nicholas man hooked for 
twenty-five thousand, when he leaned back in 
his chair and laughed in my face. A poor man 
will swallow the naked hook.” 

“ Receipts from the rural districts are about 
over,” said Pilot. “ Occasionally, only, a ten-dol- 
lar bill comes in from some person who says he 
has scraped it up and hopes he isn’t too late to 
get on the list for division. But we have Rose- 
dow left. Isn't it about time to fall back on the 
Highlands ? ” 

“ What I was coming to. I have thought of 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


79 


nothing else for days,” said Rush. “ Read these 
documents. Here, this one first.” And Pilot 
took up the one indicated, and read as fol- 
lows : 

“ (Translation). 

Amsterdam, Holland, May 21, 1872. 
To Obadiah Jones, U. S. Consul, 37 Beeker St. 

“ Sir : As the heirs to the estate which my es- 
teemed client, Mr. John Pilot, of New York, 
represents are Americans, I have thought it my 
duty to invite you in your official capacity to be 
present to-morrow noon at the office of the pres- 
ident of the Bank of Amsterdam, to listen to a 
proposition which the said president and direc- 
tors of the bank desire to make through me to the 
American representative of the Deckers. In case 
their proposal meets with your approbation and 
mine, I would be pleased to enclose a statement 
from you to that effect, with my communication 
to Mr. Pilot. If it does not meet our views of 
what is just and due to the heirs, your support 
will prove of value to me in my discussion of the 
affair with the bank. 

I remain, sir, with high esteem. 

Your obedient servant 

Peter Van Velsen, Advocate.” 

“ Here,” said Rush, “ is Van Velsen’s original 
letter in Dutch, of which you have just read the 
translation. You do not read Dutch ? Never 
mind, the translation is quite correct. Here, 
now, read the consul’s letter to Van Velsen, writ- 
ten, as you will perceive, after the interview at the 
bank.” Pilot took the letter and read as follows ; 


8o 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


“ United States Consulate, 
Amsterdam, May 24, 1872. 
To Mr. Van Velsen, Advocate, 

63 Butter Market Square, Amsterdam. 

“ Sir : Referring to our interview on the 22d 
inst. with the president and directors of the Bank 
of Amsterdam, I have to say that, in my opinion, 
the Dekker heirs whom you represent would do 
well to accept the terms then proposed. In 
order that there may be no misunderstanding 
hereafter as to my action in giving the proposi- 
tion of the bank my endorsement, I beg leave to 
state my understanding of it and of the argu- 
ments advanced by the directors which in great 
part led me to my conclusion. 

First. While admitting that the bank has real- 
ized from a loan of the original fund and its an- 
nual accumulations an interest of something over 
an average of six per cent., as shown by their 
books, yet they say they are entitled in equity to 
the one-sixth of this, their usual charge for hand- 
ling sums of like character, and perhaps entitled 
to more in law in this case of foreign heirs. 

“ Second. That, whereas it is in their power by 
taking an appeal from the recent decision of the 
equity judge to delay payment for a year at least, 
yet, in case the heirs accede to their proposal, 
they will begin the shipment of the specie to New 
York within ten days after the receipt of such 
agreement, legally attested. 

“ Third. They accordingly make toMr. Pilot the 
following proposition, to wit : 

“That he, as representative of the Decker heirs, 
shall bind himself to give the bank a full acquit- 
tance on receipt of the original sum deposited 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


8 


with it, and compound interest at the rate of five 
per cent, per annum, provided 

“ (a) That all interest shall cease on the date of 
the first shipment. 

“ (b) That the shipments shall be monthly and 
the bank have the option of restricting them to 
five million dollars a shipment. 

“ (c) That charges of transfer and insurance 
shall be at the cost of the heirs. 

“ I will add that the rate of interest is now low, 
the bank paying on loan deposits only two per 
cent. The high interest of former years accounts 
for the average stated at the interview. I think 
the heirs ought to be content, and close at once 
with the directors' proposition. 

I am, very truly. 

Your obedient servant, 

Obadiah Jones, 
U. S. Consul.” 

The consul, you will perceive,” said Rush, 
when Pilot had finished and laid down the letter, 
“ has forgotten to append his official seal. To 
remedy this negligence on his part, I had one 
constructed to-day, a poor thing in lead, but it 
will pass.” He then produced a seal and pad, 
made a trial impression on a sheet of paper very 
well done, and having a decidedly genuine look. 
It read as follows, circled about a spread eagle in 
the center: “United States Consulate, Amster- 
dam, Holland.” He then made an impression on 
the consul’s letter at the bottom, and to the left 
of the signature. 


82 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ Here/ - he continued, “is the official state- 
ment and offer of the president of the bank, ad- 
dressed to Van Velsen, and a letter from him to 
you enclosing it and the consul’s communication, 
and his letter to the consul, which he requested 
him to enclose to account for his connection with 
the case. The original letters, which are in 
Dutch, I have here in this package. These, even 
to the spelling of the name, are accurate transla- 
tions, and, as you will observe, are so marked.” 

“ I think,” said Pilot, “ the originals should be 
attached, in each case, to the translations.” 

“ I so intend,” answered Rush. 

The evening after this an article headed 
“ highly important ” appeared in the News, in 
which it was stated that it had leaked out that 
the Deckers were on the very eve of a settlement 
of their Holland claim. The paper was mailed 
to Mr. Decker at Rosedow, with the item 
marked in red pencil. 

Rush attached the Dutch and English papers 
in couples as suggested by Pilot. The tree was 
pruned down to seven names by the crossing off 
in pencil of all but those to be used in the coming 
negotiation. Pilot obtained from the recorder’s 
office a list of the houses in the city belonging to 
Mr. Samuel Decker of Rosedow, from the rent of 
which he drew his chief income, and Rush, with 
this list, entered Wall Street, and learned by 
inquiry at different houses the highest sum that 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


^3 


could be borrowed on them, by note and mort- 
gage. A transfer was drawn up from Mr. John 
Outcalt Decker, who represented two shares, one 
on the paternal and the other on the maternal 
side, to Samuel Decker of Rosedow, of all his 
right, title, and interest in and to the Decker 
estates, both in New York and Holland, for the 
sum of seventy-five thousand dollars in cash. 
The date to this document was left blank, to be 
filled in when acknowledged and used. 

Barney was called to the office at night, again 
in the absence of Mr. Pilot, to sign this transfer, 
■but he hung back when informed of the new 
name he was to assume. 

“Why, Mr, Rush, this is a different name 
altogether ; the other one wasThaddeus,” he said. 

“ What difference does that make ? asked 
Rush. “ One name is as good as another.” 

“ As bad, you mean,” retorted Barney, “ that 
is, as bad for me to sign. Suppose I was caught ? 
I’d get five years in the lockup, perhaps, for each 
name. If it was the same name, I wouldn’t care 
so much.” 

“ What nonsense you are talking, Barney,” 
said Rush. “You’ll never do for a clerk, that’s 
clear — not for a lawyer’s clerk. Why, man, you 
run no risk at all. The lawyer bears all that 
when there is any. He is responsible for every 
thing signed in his office ; that has been decided 
over and over again. He says to his clerk a dozen 


84 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


times a day when business is brisk — ‘ Here, sign 
this ; put your name here ; write such a name 
there and the clerk does it as a matter of 
course ; and goes on with his copying, or what- 
ever work he is at, and the courts say he is not in 
the least responsible. No business could be done, 
if all clerks were as squeamish as you.” 

“Well, Mr. Rush,” replied Barney, “ because 
I made one little slip in the real estate business 
is no reason I should go on slipping, or that peo- 
ple should ask me to. Every man has to take 
care of his own neck.” 

“ His own neck,” echoed Rush, with scorn. 
“ What’s the man talking about ? Do you take 
me for a hangman ? ” 

“ No, I don’t, Mr. Rush,” answered Barney, 
“ far from it, and I don’t wish to make myself 
disobliging either; and I don’t want to lose your 
good-will, if I can help it, without running too 
much risk.” 

“Very well, Barney,” said Rush, “you are a 
free man. You can do as you please about 
obliging Mr. Pilot in this matter. He can easily 
enough get another in your place. If you can 
find any quicker way of getting a rise in life, take 
it by all means. But it makes me mad to see a 
man with his foot on the ladder take it off and 
walk away for fear, if he climbs up, he may pos- 
sibly get a fall. Do as you think best though ; 
I’ll not persuade you.” 


A CASTLE IxV THE AIR. 


85 


“ I heard Mr. Kent in the real estate office,” 
answered Barney, “say one day, ‘Never drink 
water until you have looked in the cup, and never 
sign a paper until you have read it.’ I’ve gener- 
ally looked in the cup since then, when it was 
light enough to see ; and I’ve never liked to sign 
a paper since without reading it. I’ll tell you 
what I’ll do. I’ll sign this paper, if you’ll let me 
read it first.” 

“ Pilot left a ten for you to-night, Barney,” 
said Rush, “and I’ll put another ten to it, and 
that’ll make it twenty, if you sign and say no 
more about it. Pilot don’t want people, not yet 
in the office, looking into his business.” 

“ I’ll sign it if you let me read it, Mr. Rush,” 
answered Barney, doggedly. 

“Well, take it and read,” said Rush, with a 
mutter that was not a blessing on Barney, “ and, 
if you ever talk about it outside. I’ll blow your 
brains out — if you have any.” 

“I haven’t got much,” he answered, “or I’d 
have walked straighter in life, especially in the 
real estate business, — but I’m no blabber, Mr. 
Rush, and I don’t need threatening; and you 
needn’t fear me. I’ll read the paper, and I’ll sign 
the paper, and that will be following the advice 
of Mr. Kent, who was a good man, if he did turn 
me out for one slip.” 

Barney opened his eyes wide when he saw the 
consideration, and looked across the table at 


86 


^ CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Rush dubiously ; but took up the pen, and, after 
a moment's hesitation, signed at the bottom the 
name of “John Outcalt Decker," saying, “1 
promised, and I’ll keep my word." 


CHAPTER VII. 


A HUNT FOR THE HIDDEN BUNDLE. 

S Rush was approaching his lodgings on the 



■i- ^ following morning, he overtook the post- 
man, who handed him a letter addressed to Alva 
Yost. He put it in his pocket, and, going to his 
room, ordered Barney to bring him a cup of boil- 
ing water. He steamed the envelope, and, taking 
out the letter, read as follows: 


Racoon Holler, June 15, 1872. 


Alva Yost, 501 Fish Street, N. Y. 

Alva : I got your letter, writ last month. The 
red lion is all right as fur as I know. I rid round 
it twice since you left. The last time I see the 
track of men leadin in thru a hole in the back 
fence. There is some devilment going on there 
I think. The doors seem all shet fast. Sam says 
he seed a light the other night a comin out of the 
cellar. Who ever carried it seemed to be a shaden 
of it like with his hand. He says mebe it was in a 
lantern. He was fur off and couldn’t see plain. 
He was on the top of possum nob a coon hunten. 
He thinks it was the spirit a hunten the bundle that 
Rimund hid. I don’t. Spirits don’t carry candles 
and shade um with thur hands. “ They aint got no 


88 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


hands to speak of — no lanterns, nuther. Where 
cud a spirit git a lantern. Sam says mebe it was 
a sperit lantern, thats bosh. Howsomever he 
seed somethin thats certain fur he cum right down 
to Racoon Holler skeered out of his wits. The 
sperits been seen many a time since you left not 
fur from the lion tho. Im a thinken it might 
come over to the holler and hant me fur the keys 
if I keep em much longer. It may be some dare 
devils are a usin the lion at night for some roggery. 
Them tracks warnt made by no sperits. 

Yours till deth 

Dannel Sluger.’' 

Rush copied the letter in part and the post- 
mark on the envelope, and, resealing it, dropped 
it on the table in the hall, and, calling Barney, 
feed him, and gave him orders to listen sharply 
as soon as Yost read the letter, and through the 
day and evening, when he and Hollanda were to- 
gether. But nothing came of it. Yost put the 
letter in his pocket, and, so far from discussing 
its contents with his wife, did not even mention 
its receipt. 

The next morning Rush took the train for 
Benvelt, and, on his arrival, made inquiry at the 
hotel for the Red Lion, and, on asking about the 
report of its being haunted, learned the story of 
the death of Rinemond as known to the public. 
He then called at the office of the Probate Judge, 
and was permitted to see the contents of the 
satchel, on saying that he might give some clue 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


89 


to the identity of the late owner. There was 
nothing in the satchel of value beside the money 
and the watch. He read the fragmentary letter 
carefully, coloring as he found how Yost had 
trapped him, and left, saying that he was mistaken 
in the man. He then took the way-train back to 
the station nearest the Red Lion, and, inquiring 
the way to Slugger’s, set out on foot for Raccoon 
Hollow, which he reached at dark. 

The humble tavern of Slugger’s was situated 
several miles further from the station than the 
Red Lion and the old road, and was embosomed in 
a wilderness of barren pine hills. Its patrons 
were hunters and the half-wild dwellers in the sur- 
rounding solitudes. They dropped in on week- 
days to drink and occasionally take a meal. Of 
travel past the door there was none. It opened 
on a by-road that terminated not far beyond in a 
cul-de-sac. On Sunday there was a dance and a 
chicken-fight or a horse-race, and gambling was 
carried on with small stakes and great uproar. 
On Sunday Slugger’s lived ; on week-days it 
failed to make a living. On Sunday Slugger 
was jovial and feared no evil ; on week-days he 
was despondent and given over, especially in the 
gloaming, to fear of the invisible world. The 
sign-board nailed over the front door had, burned 
into it with a red-hot iron, done by some native 
artist, the words, “ The Coon and an ineffectual 
attempt had been made by the same hand, with 


90 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

the same instrument, to portray, in one corner, 
a diminutive representation of that interesting 
animal. The Slugger year consisted of fifty-three 
days, including the Fourth of July. 

The entrance of Rush occasioned considerable 
surprise. Slugger showed him to the best room, 
and ordered the slaughter of a possum from the 
pen in his honor. He invited him to take a glass 
of liquor, which, contrary to his custom. Rush ac- 
cepted, and in turn treated the landlord. After 
supper, at which he partook of the possum and 
praised it, though he found it excessively disa- 
greeable, he retired to his chamber and returned 
in his shirt-sleeves, saying it was warm, and he 
wished to make himself at home. Slugger was 
quite charmed with him, and was full of curiosity 
to learn his name and business. The “ Coon ” 
had no register, and the name of a guest, unless 
he gave it up voluntarily, had to be wormed out 
of him. 

“ Stranger,” he said, after several hints had 
failed, what mought your name be, if I mought 
make so bold ? ” 

“ My name is Rankin,” answered Rush. 

“And where mought you be from, if it’s not 
askin’ too much ? ” 

“ From Philadelphia,” he answered. 

“From Philadelphy,” said Slugger in surprise; 
“that’s a long ways off. It’s a wonder: what 
brought you clear fromthar’ to these lonely parts?” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


91 


“ I am looking for a house in the pine wood 
country,” Rush said, “to rent, to make furniture 
in. It is too expensive taking the wood to the 
city.” 

“You’re a furnitur’ maker, then?” inquired 
Slugger. 

“Yes,” Rush answered, “light, cheap, pine 
furniture. There is plenty of pine about, but no 
building fit ; none large enough to make and store 
away in.” 

“ Why, I know the very house, and have the 
rentin’ of it,” said Slugger. “ That is,” he added, 
“if you’re not afeard to go in it.” 

“ What’s the matter with the house ? ” asked 
Rush. 

“ Hanted, that’s all,” replied Slugger, with an 
ominous look. 

“ What house is it ? ” inquired Rush. 

“The Red Lion. It’s three mile back, on the 
old road. You come in half a mile of it, if you 
come out from Baker Station. It’s large enough 
for two fact’ries.” 

“What’s the rent?” inquired Rush. 

“ Why, we can’t ask what it’s wuth,” replied 
Slugger. “ Hanted houses dont’t rent high in no 
country. We won t disagree on that, if you darst 
to take it. And it may not hant you,” he added 
hopefully. “ I never heard of a sperit hantin’ a 
fact’ry — that is, when it was occapied. The noise 
of the machines ’ll drive it out, as like as not,” 


92 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


“What is it being haunted about?’' was the 
next inquiry. 

“ Why, you see,” answered Slugger, in a low 
tone, “ I don’t much like to talk about it after 
dark. One doesn’t know who mought be round 
listenin’; but, as you are a stranger. I’ll tell you. 
You see, a man put up there one evenin’ when 
Yost was alone in the house, and Hollanda — 
that’s his wife — had gone to town, and wouldn’t 
take no supper. He put his name down on the 
book, and went to bed, and Alva — that’s Yost — 
showed him up.” 

“ What name did he register?” asked Rush. 

“ He writ his name down, Isaac Rinemon’ — I 
see it myself on the day of the inquest, and I’ve 
seen it sence in the night when I lay awake in the 
dark with my eyes open. Ef I had it to do over, 
I wouldn’t look at that register, not for any 
thing. Mirandy,” he called to his daughter in 
the adjoining supper-room, “light that candle 
agin you jist blowed out. It’s more cheerful 
like.” 

“ I don’t want it no more,” she answered. 
“You’re skeered ; that’s what’s the matter.” 

“I’m not!” he retorted petulantly; “light it 
up agin, I say. Where was I ? Yes, in the night 
he got up and went out on the wet porch, and 
slipped off and fell into the water-trough, and 
drowned hisself. He writ a letter sayin’ he was 
goin’ to hide a bundle, and his sperit has been 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


93 


a-lookin’ for it ever sence ; and I wish it may find 
it and go away; but it won’t.” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ Because it can’t,” he answered. 

“Well,” said Rush, “I will go over in the 
morning and examine the house, and if it suits 
I will rent it, if we can agree on a price. You will 
go with me, I suppose.” 

“I’d like to,” said Slugger; “but I’ve got a set 
of chicken-gafts to make aginst Sunday, and 
can’t spare the time.” 

“ He’s afeard to go, stranger,” called out Mi- 
randy from the supper-room, with a laugh. 

“I’m not,” said Slugger, angrily, “and I’ll 
thank you not to put in atween the stranger and 
me, until you’re asked. It’s unmannerly and un- 
respectful besides ! ” 

“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed Mirandy. “Gafts!” 

“ Give me the keys, and I can find my way 
over in the morning,” said Rush. 

“ I’ll git ’em for you to-morrow,” replied Slug- 
ger. “You see, I keep ’em hid out in the rocks, 
for fear of diccidenty 

“Yes, I see,” answered Rush. 

During breakfast in the morning, at which 
Rush resolutely declined to partake of possum. 
Slugger came in from the cliffs with a bunch of 
keys, rusted from exposure, and Mirandy polished 
them with ashes. Slugger explained that one 
was missing, and would be found, if any one had 


94 


A CASTLE IN THE A IE. 


the temerity to seek it, in the door of the chamber 
in which the last guest of the Red Lion had 
passed a portion of his final night on earth. 
Dandy, late the property of Hollanda, was sad- 
dled and brought to the door. This unfortunate 
animal had so depreciated in value and in public 
estimation by its disposition to break bounds and 
return to its old haunts about the Red Lion that 
it sank within reach of a small purse saved up by 
Mirandy, who purchased it, and had no fear of 
bringing it back in person when it strayed to its 
old home. The ownership gave her importance 
in her own eyes, as well as in the estimation of 
the gathered beaux on Sundays, but displeased 
her father, who feared the attractive power of 
Dandy over the wandering spirit only less than 
the power of the keys. Provided with a lunch, 
and directed by a path across the hills. Rush sal- 
lied forth on the fatal pony, bearing the dreaded 
keys, an object of painful solicitude to Slugger. 

The way led through a pine forest, up and down 
steeps, and along the face and bottom of rugged 
cliffs. The progress was slow. Dandy passing the 
time in meditating on the sweetness of the Red 
Lion grass, and Rush on the hidden bundle. He 
was satisfied it had not been found. Yost showed 
no sign of having money, and dread of the spirit- 
ual hunter had kept the country people aloof. 
Where could Rinemond have hidden it? Per- 
haps dread of pursuit and capture, as well as of 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


95 


the ill-looking landlord, had induced him to rise 
in the night, after Yost had retired, and hide it in 
the stable, or, maybe, in the field, under a log, 
or in the hollow of a tree. While absorbed in 
these thoughts, he reached the summit of Possum 
Knob, whence Sam had seen the light issue from 
the cellar, and over which his path led, and halted 
Dandy to take his first sight of the Red Lion. 

Billows of pine lay beneath him, through which, 
here and there, a few yards of the old sandy road 
could be discerned winding, and out of which 
arose the old tavern with its out-buildings, pad- 
dock, and garden — venerable and extensive and 
red throughout, even to the fence and pig-stye. 
Rush thought, as he noticed with astonishment 
the extent of ground the building rambled over, 
and saw the patches in which it had been built, 
that each succeeding Decker had left it greater 
than he had found it, and sighed to think that 
Oliver the First, the friend of Burr, was not there 
then, in all his glory, to be manipulated. 

He descended and halted under the old sign 
and surveyed the front. All the doors and win- 
dows were closed but those of the one chamber 
on the upper porch. He rode to the great water- 
trough. It was empty, and beginning to crack 
under the action of the sun. He turned Dandy 
into the paddock, hanging the saddle and bridle 
on the fence, unlocked the front door, and 
entered. The first place to examine,” he 


96 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


thought, ‘Ms ///^ room,” and he ascended to the 
upper porch and entered it. He found it as the 
coroner had left it. He took off his coat and 
made a complete examination. He unlocked the 
doors and opened the shutters of every room on 
the porch. He entered the upper hall and con- 
tinued his search from gallery to gallery until 
hunger warned him of the flight of time. He 
looked at his watch, and found the afternoon far 
spent. He walked quickly to the front porch 
and into the room for his coat. It was gone, and 
a ragged one lying across the back of the chair 
where he had left his own. He hurried down 
stairs to the lower porch. His lunch was gone — 
only the paper in which it had been wrapped and 
a few crusts and crumbs left on the bench. The 
saddle and bridle were gone from the fence, and 
Dandy from the paddock. 

When he entered the bar of the “ Coon,” just 
after sundown, in his shirt-sleeves, tired and 
covered with dust, he frightened Slugger nearly 
into a fit, and Sam Kutz, the coon-hunter, who 
was talking with him, made a rush for the door 
through sympathetic terror. Mirandy was the 
only one who retained her self-possession. 

“ Why, what on the mortal earth has come to 
you ? ” she said. 

“ A little bad luck,” Rush answered, taking a 
chair. 

“ Where’s Dandy ? ” she inquired anxiously. 


A CAS'J'LE IN THE AIR. 97 

“Sit down, all of you,” he replied, “and I will 
tell you about it.” 

He had passed the morning, he said, in ex- 
amining the house to see how it would suit, and 
left his coat in a room on the front porch. 

“ Which room ? ” inquired Slugger, “ not the 
room ? ” 

“ Why,” answered Rush, “ yes, I believe it was.” 

“ Great Jerusalem ! ” exclaimed Sam. “What 
a temptin’ of Providence.” 

“You’re a dead man, Mr. Rankin,” said Slug- 
ger, in a melancholy tone. “ I’m sorry for you. 
You’ve nigh about eat your last possum.” 

“ I dare say that is true,” answered Rush, “as 
to the possum. Well, listen, if you please. I 
unsaddled Dandy and hung the bridle and saddle 
on the fence near the horse-trough.” 

“Near the horse-trough ! ’’-interrupted Slugger, 
with a look of amazement. “There’s the end of 
them articles ; you needn’t tell me they’re gone.” 

“You are right,” resumed Rush; “they were 
gone when I came to look for them ; and the 
lunch which Mirandyputup for me was eaten up, 
and nothing left on the bench but the paper and 
some crumbs.” 

“ Spirits don’t eat,” said Sam sententiously ; 
“ that’s too thin.” 

“ And,” resumed Rush, without noticing the 
remark, “ I turned Dandy into the paddock, and 
he was gone, and I came away and left the keys 


98 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


sticking in one of the corridor doors, and that is 
the end.” 

‘‘Well, of all the tricks!” exclaimed Sam. 
“These city folk do beat thunder.” 

“You will pay me for Dandy, I suppose?” 
inquired Mirandy. 

. “ Certainly,” said Rush, “ if we don’t get him 
again.” 

“ Not what I give for him,” she added, “ that’s 
my business. I want his real wo’th. Wha’s 
Dandy wo’th, Sam ?” 

“Why,” said Sam, “if there was no spell on 
the hoss — ” 

“ Never mind your spells,” she interrupted, 
“ what’s Dandy wo’th ? ” 

“ Why,” answered Sam, “ Dandy’s wo’th twenty- 
five dollars. He’s as good a pony as overjumped 
a fence; an’ they cheated Mrs. Yost when they 
on’y give her ten. If Dandy was mine now. I’d 
knock off five on account of the myst’ry he’s 
wrapped up in, an’ call it twenty.” 

“ Well, well,” said Rush, “she shall have what 
she asks for him, twenty or twenty-five ; but I 
want some one to go back with me early in the 
morning and help look him up. What do you 
say, Sam, will you go ? ” 

“ What ! me ? ” said Sam. “ Why, good gra- 
cious, Mr. Rankin, I’ve got to go home to-night, 
an’ I’ve got to hunt up a lost hog to-morrow. 
Ask Dannel. Maybe he’ll go.” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


99 


“ No, Dannel isn’t a-goinV’ answered Slugger. 

“ Come, let’s all take a drink,” said Rush. 
“This talking without drinking is dry work. 
Sam,” said he, after he had treated him twice, “ I 
will pay for your supper, bed, and breakfast, and 
as much as you can drink ; and we will take a 
couple of bottles with us to-morrow ; and I will 
pay you in money besides what you ask, if you 
will come over and help me.” 

“ That’s a big offer,” said Sam, “ but look at 
the risk. If you don’t ask me to go into the Lion, 
an’ give me a dollar, I don’t know but I’ll go. I 
consider I’m a-riskin’ my life.” 

In the morning early they took the path for the 
Lion. When they reached the top of Possum 
Knob they saw Dandy grazing in the paddock 
below, and on coming to the porch saw the 
saddle and bridle where Rush had left them on 
the fence, and the lunch on the bench not even 
untied. Rush went up to the room, and Sam 
backed into the open space in front to watch him. 
He entered, and found the ragged garment gone, 
and his own coat in its place on the back of the 
chair. He put it on and came out on the porch, 
and the wonder of Sam was complete. 

Without opening any more rooms, having ex- 
amined all anywhere near the front porch, and 
all in which it was at all likely the bundle would 
have been concealed. Rush spent the better part 
of the day in looking into nooks and odd places 


lOO 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


both in the house, outhouses, and barn, and even 
in hollowlogs and stumps in the woods and fields. 
His hunt was fruitless, and in the evening he 
mounted Dandy and returned with Sam to Rac- 
coon Hollow. 

When Sam returned to the “Coon” the next 
morning on Dandy, after seeing Rush to the 
station, he halted in front of the door and, sitting 
sidewise in the saddle, entered into conversation 
with Slugger, who came out. 

“ What do you think’ll become of him ? ” he 
inquired. 

“ He’s doomed,” answered Slugger, gloomily ; 
“ he’s as good as dead.” 

“ What did it bring the things back fur then ? ” 
he asked doubtfully ; “ that looked friendly like 
to me.” 

“To coax him on,” answered Slugger, “ to git 
him to stay all night. You see they can’t tech a 
man in daylight ; they ain’t permitted, nor pro- 
perly till midnight.” 

“ But takin’ the things was calculated to skeer 
him,” said Sam. “ If they wanted to coax him, 
what did they do that fur ? That don’t consist, 
you see, Dannel.” 

“ Why,” answered Slugger, “ you see it made 
a mistake in that, Sam. A spirit can make a mis- 
take as well as a live man. Why not ? They are 
always a-doin’ onaccountable things, and tryin’ to 
rectify ’em. This spirit, when it thought the 


A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. 


loi 


thing over, found he’d made a mistake, and 
brought the plunder back in the night.” 

“ It don’t seem to me, ” said Sam, “ that 
they’ve got much gumption to act that a way. I 
have a thunderin’ notion to go in and hunt fur that 
hid bundle. I don’t fear no spirit that ain’t 
smarter nor this one. Not in the daytime,” he 
added, seeing the incredulous look on Slugger’s 
face. 

“ What did the stranger say goin’ over, Sam,” 
inquired Mirandy. Did he put you up to 
lookin’ for that bundle? Seems to me somebody 
did. You wouldn’t a darst to think of such a 
thing by yourself.” 

“ I darst do many a thing, Miss Mirandy,” 
answered Sam, coloring, ^‘an’ I won’t tell all he 
said goin’ over. One thing he said, he didn’t 
believe in spirits, nor he don’t !” 

“ He’s a idjit to talk that way,” interposed 
Slugger, “ after all he’s gone through. He’s a 
nat’ral born fool,” he added with rising indigna- 
tion, “ that’s what he is.” 


CHAPTER VIIL 


DECKER OF GILES GOES FISHING WITH A HIGH- 
LAND CHIEF. 



HE monotony of life at Rosedow grew less as 


1 Madison increased his visits. He passed 
his Sundays there, and rode over during the 
week, and was so bright and full of fun that the 
whole household lit up at his coming. He walked 
over the grounds with Cousin Della; they fished 
together on the little lake, and rode on horseback 
to points of romantic interest, and soon became 
lovers. The old gentleman was pleased with their 
intimacy, and favored Madison with his views in 
extenso on the coming fortune, its certainty, its 
size, and the uses to which it should be put. He 
read to him the newspaper articles, which were 
now frequent and generally short and pointed, 
and which his legal adviser, as he called Pilot, 
sent to him as they appeared, duly marked with 
red pencil. These he had Madison copy at his 
library table and enclose to his father ; and soon 
all Giles County was ablaze with Decker news. 
The paper at the Court House reproduced the 
articles, and congratulated the community that 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 103 

“ Old Giles ” was not left out in the distribution 
of Fortune’s favors; and intimated that, as a fit- 
ting libation to the gods, a portion of the coming 
gold might be poured out at the Court House in 
the erection of a “ Decker Public Library and 
Reading Room.” “ ‘ Shanks,’ as we familiarly and 
playfully styled our now successful countryman, 
it is understood has been one of the chief instru- 
ments in unearthing this hidden treasure, and in 
dissipating the heavy clouds that have so long 
obscured the title to this famous fortune. Old 
Giles raises men. She is proud of her son 
‘Shanks.’” 

As the evidence accumulated of the speedy 
realization of the fortune, the resistance of Wil- 
liam Decker of Giles to the demands of the ladies 
of the household for money to supply articles of 
luxury, and to improve the appearance of the 
house and grounds, grew fainter. The fences 
were repaired and painted, as was the wood- 
work of the house inside and out. Bills at the 
milliner’s, dry goods store, and grocery at Giles 
Court House were run up, and the money laid by 
for taxes was carried over the mountains into 
Greenbriar and expended at the celebrated White 
Sulphur Springs of that county. The married 
son, who had so savingly managed the farm here- 
tofore, mending the wagons and implements of 
agriculture himself, now took the mending to the 
wagon-maker and smith, and made new purchases 


104 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


that he would not have thought of before the 
inherited poison began to stir in his blood. So 
the Deckers of Giles looked up and looked bright, 
and were the talk of mountain and valley. The 
girls were belles at the White Sulphur, the mother 
projected fine matches, the son dreamed of lands 
of his own, and the father of buying half Giles 
County and introducing modern improvements 
and blooded stock. 

One day while the family were immersed in 
these dreams, and were expending their fortune 
before they had gotten it in, they received a visit 
from an old man named Lovat, who lived in the 
mountains. He was tall, with grizzled hair and 
beard, and of large frame, though thin. He was 
poor, as all mountain men are, but had about him 
an appearance of faded gentilit}/ both in dress and 
manner. Decker had long known and respected 
him, though their paths in life had kept them 
apart. Madison had put up at his cabin when 
hunting in the mountains in the winter, and had 
gone out with him on the chase for bear and 
deer, and the old man had formed an attach- 
ment for him. It was this that had brought him 
down to the valley to visit Decker. After dinner 
he proposed to go to the river to fish, and the 
two old men were soon seated on the bank, with 
their corks floating on the water. 

“ Decker,'’ said Lovat, after a time, “ the fish 
don’t bite ; let me tell you a story.” 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 105 

“ I should like to hear one,” he answered ; “ I 
am fond of stories. We will get no bites. The 
rain last night has muddied the water and spoiled 
the fishing.” 

Well, sir,” said Lovat, “ here goes. Once 
upon a time there lived in the Highlands of 
Scotland a high and mighty chieftain, called Lord 
Lovat. He was a friend of the deposed Stuart 
family, and hated with a holy hatred the Dutch- 
man who sat on the throne in London and lorded 
it over the three kingdoms, and his clan, as in 
duty bound, did the same. Well, after a while 
one of the Stuarts landed in Scotland, and got up 
an army to fight for the crown. Now Lord 
Lovat had been to France, and had traveled, and 
had learned a good deal about the world, and he 
knew there was no chance for young Stuart ; so 
he refused to join him, and staid at home. But 
his son, ‘The Master of Lovat,’ who didn’t know 
as much as his father, though he thought he knew 
more, sent round the fiery cross, raised a follow- 
ing, and joined Stuart, and, after they were 
whipped, fled to France. The English, when they 
found they couldn’t catch the young man, sent 
soldiers to Dounie Castle, who burned it and 
captured the old one, and took him to London. 
The House of Lords tried him for helping Stuart, 
and, not being able to get any evidence against 
him, became highly exasperated and condemned 
him to death on general principles. As they 


lo6 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

were driving him back to the Tower in a carriage, 
the crowd about it hooting at and insulting him 
was so great that the horses couldn’t go out of a 
walk, and Lord Lovat lay back and took no notice 
and scorned them, until a woman passed near the 
carriage window and called out : 

“ ‘Let me see the ugly, old Scotch dog,’ when 
the old man put his gray head out of the window 
and answered : 

“ ‘ Well, look at him, you ugly, old English 
b— h.’ 

“ This speech so pleased his clansmen when it 
got to the Highlands, that it in a measure con- 
soled them for the loss of their old chief’s head, 
which was hacked off by a blundering Englishman 
the next day. 

“ His son, who came to his title and estates, 
made up with the Dutchman and put his eldest 
son in the English navy as lieutenant, and this 
inconsiderate chap fell in love with a beautiful 
girl in the mountains of the North Riding of 
York, where he was trout-fishing on leave from his 
vessel, and married her. He wrote his father that 
his wife was as beautiful as an angel, and as good 
as one ; and begged his pardon for not having men- 
tioned the matter before he married ; and received 
a reply from the lord’s attorney, cutting off his 
allowance and all further intercourse. He there- 
upon resigned from the navy, and emigrated to 
New York, got a clerkship, was very happy for 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 107 

two years, and died, leaving my grandmother in 
want. The English consul wrote to Lord Lovat, 
and his attorney replied, requesting him to pay 
over to her quarterly a handsome allowance and 
draw on him. I have heard my grandmother say 
that one day when she called for this money the 
consul informed her that the allowance was 
stopped ; and, as my father was prosperous in 
business, and the money not needed, the matter 
was dropped. 

‘‘When I was about fifteen years old my father 
purchased a large and valuable estate in Jersey 
and retired from business, his health having be 
come infirm. Not long after this, he read a notice 
in the paper aloud at the breakfast-table, stating 
that Lord Lovat had died at a great old age, and 
had left no heirs in Scotland, and saying that a 
certain lawyer in New York was hunting up 
American heirs. My father put himself in com- 
munication with this lawyer and furnished him 
money to go to Scotland. He wrote back en- 
couraging letters from time to time, and drew 
drafts on my father for court expenses. He sent 
him accounts of the progress of the- suit, and pa- 
pers were mailed him every few months by some 
one in New York, containing short articles con- 
cerning the great Lord Lovat case, and the ap- 
proaching installation of the American heir. At 
last a letter came announcing that the case was 
won, and covering the decision of the court 


io8 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

^ that, on payment of the succession tax,’ the 
amount of which was stated in the decision, ‘ the 
title and estates would become the property of 
Charles Stuart, Lord Lovat, now of the State of 
New Jersey in the United States of America.’ 
The following mail brought a draft at ten days’ 
sight for the amount to cover this tax, and 
pay the lawyer’s expenses back to New York. 

“ My father had an attack of gout, and was in 
bed when this momentous letter reached him. 
He sent for a lawyer to the county town, and in- 
structed him to prepare a mortgage, raise the sum 
called for, and meet the draft. This was effected 
with some difficulty, as the sum was thought 
rather heavy for the estate to bear. The family 
awaited further news with great anxiety, and in 
due course of mail a letter was received from the 
attorney at Edinburgh acknowledging the re- 
ceipt of notice of payment of the draft, and say- 
ing that that evening he would carry the money 
in gold, as required by law, to the office of the 
Clerk of the Court, and pay it over. 

“ This was the last that was ever heard of him. 
My father died in * the belief that he had been 
robbed and murdered, and his body thrown into the 
Leith. My grandmother thought his body could 
be found if sought for in the American colony in 
Paris ; and my mother oscillated between the two 
opinions. I took my father’s view as the most 
dreadful, and at the same time consoling, and ven- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 109 

crated the memory of the lost attorney. My father 
succumbed to a violent fit of his disease, brought 
on by disappointment. My grandmother soon fol- 
lowed him, longing in her last years to get back 
to her native mountain home in the North Rid- 
ing, and my mother and I expended the frag- 
ments of my father’s estate in feeing a new attor- 
ney, and I the best years of my life in haunting 
his office. If you will come up into the High- 
lands, Decker,” he concluded, getting up from his 
seat, and wrapping the fishline about his pole, 
“ you will be royally received at Castle Dounie by 
your humble servant, Charles Stuart, Lord Lovat, 
the American heir.” 

The two men walked to the house without ex- 
changing a word ; and Lovat mounted his pony 
and rode back to his home in the mountains. 

Mr. Decker was absorbed in meditation dur- 
ing the evening, and the following morning rode 
to the court-house and ordered the shopkeepers 
with whom they dealt to make out their bills, 
and informed them that he would pay as soon 
as he was able, and would henceforth do a cash 
business. 

That evening at supper he informed the family 
of what he had done, and declared that a reign of 
the strictest economy must set in at once. A 
battle royal opened on the spot, but the old gen- 
tleman was prepared for it and fought vigorously. 
Tears were shed, but he was obdurate. Reasons 


no 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


were demanded for this sudden change of heart, 
but he would give none. It was his will, and it 
must be obeyed. He instituted the most galling 
economies, himself cut splinters and rolled up 
scraps of paper to save matches, and, altogether, 
behaved in such an unaccountable manner that 
his family settled down to the opinion that his 
brain was softening, and went about in fear and 
sorrow. 

But the condition of the Rosedow Decker was 
quite different — the very reverse of that of his 
co-heir in Giles. Fed by the items in the papers 
and the letters of Pilot, he became more and more 
confident ; and his mind was heated by the com- 
ing prosperity which he now felt almost within 
his grasp. Pilot had communicated to him in 
confidence that but seven heirs were able to prove 
their descent from the far-off ancestor. Of these 
he represented two — his own and the one he had 
purchased ; the Giles County heir, one ; a gentle- 
man of wealth then in the city, whose family had 
preceded him to Europe, held the fourth, and 
was in negotiation for shares fifth and sixth, held 
in Philadelphia, by a gentleman who inherited by 
father and mother, both Deckers. The seventh 
share was held in New Jersey, and a gentleman 
in the city, Mr. Rush, was in negotiation for it. 
That he had received a proposition from the 
Bank directors which required the assent of all 
theproved-up heirs, and was busy in gaining their 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Ill 


signatures to a power of attorney authorizing him 
to settle on the basis proposed. That, while he 
had not shown the directors’ offer to any one, he 
had sounded them ; and was quite confident, as- 
suming the assent of himself and Decker of Giles, 
that all would sign, excepting the Philadelphia 
gentleman, who was intractable and would sign 
nothing. He hoped the negotiations for his shares 
would succeed, as an immediate settlement could 
thus be secured, as he would see when he laid be- 
fore him his recent letters from Holland. Unfor- 
tunately an inkling of their contents had leaked 
out, and had caused the Philadelphian to raise 
his price. His first terms were sixty thousand, 
and he had raised to seventy-five. The gentleman 
offered him fifty. The reduction of the heirs to 
so small a number had caused the first great rise. 
In the strictest confidence he would say that the 
directors had agreed to make the first shipment to 
New York, of five millions, within ten days after 
the receipt of the legal and certified acceptance of 
their proposition. This must be kept perfectly 
secret until the Philadelphian is bought out; if he 
should hear it he would raise his terms to millions. 
He requested him to forward without loss of time 
an inclosed power of attorney to Decker of Giles 
for signature, authorizing him to accept or reject 
terms offered by the bank, and saying, by the 
time he would receive an answer, he would be at 
Rosedow with all the Holland papers, 


II2 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


“ Madie/' he called to the young gentleman who 
was playing croquet on the lawn with his lady-love, 
“ I wish to see you immediately in the library.” 
He had received the last communication a few 
minutes before. 

“ Madie,” he said when they were seated, “ I have 
this moment received a communication of the 
very greatest importance to your father and myself. 
It is absolutely necessary that he should without 
delay sign a power of attorney authorizing Mr. 
Pilot to act for him in accepting or rejecting terms 
of settlement. Do you think there is any fear of 
his declining?” 

“ I fear there is,” he answered. “ I have a letter 
from home saying that my father has forbidden 
the fortune to be mentioned, and is curtailing ex- 
penses in every direction. In that mood I hardly 
think he would sign anything concerning it.” 

“Do you think,” said the old gentleman, “a 
letter from you would be likely to persuade him ? ” 

“ I fear not,” answered Madison. 

Mr. Decker rose from his chair, and paced the 
floor in agitation. 

“ What a misfortune ! ” he exclaimed. “ Do 
you think, if you went down in person, you could 
induce him to sign ? ” he added, stopping before 
him. 

“ I might,” was the answer, “ but I am by no 
means sure. When he takes a set, he is hard to 


move, 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


II3 


“ Like all the Deckers,” said the old gentleman. 
“ What a stiff-necked race ! What an unfortu- 
nate family ! Madie,” he said, after some thought, 
resuming his seat, “ will you go down to Giles for 
me? ” 

With great pleasure,” he answered; “ I suppose 
Mr. Bronson can spare me.” 

“I will write him at once,” said Decker; and 
he addressed him a note, asking leave for Madi- 
son on important family business affecting them 
both. 

“ Drive over immediately,” said he, handing 
him the letter, “ and come back prepared to take 
the night train. Not an hour is to be lost.” 

Madison departed on his mission, and Decker 
sat down and thought anxiously over the situa- 
tion. What a calamity if Madie should fail. Right 
on the eve of realization, after generations of ex- 
pectation and hope, a thick-headed Decker was 
probably about to ruin everything by interposing 
a dangerous delay. It was delay that killed all 
great enterprises. The bank, angered by the fail- 
ure to accept their proposition, might begin the 
fight afresh, and throw the settlement into the 
next generation. An urgent letter from himself 
assuring him of the importance of instant action, 
together with the influence of his son, surely 
ought to move him. But perhaps he will 
refuse to listen to his son, or pay any 
regard to his letter. What then ? He has for- 


114 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


bidden the subject to be even mentioned, and is 
economizing, Madie says. “ Maybe he is in finan- 
cial difficulties. In that case money in hand will 
move him. Money in hand will move anybody ; 
it is the great lever. We must buy him out ; that 
is the road out of our dilemma. I will tell him 
candidly that I can buy the Philadelphia shares 
for seventy-five thousand, and will offer him at 
the same rate for his. It is a very large sum to 
risk, and it must be raised by sale of my bonds ; 
but there is no risk, and it will come back in mil- 
lions within ninety days. I will do it. The bold 
win the prizes of life.” 

On the second day following, a juvenile Decker 
of Giles was prancing about the front yard on a 
stick steed, when he suddenly dismounted, and, 
rushing to the house, called out : 

“ Here comes Madie a-gallopin' up on a spotted 
horse.” 

A simultaneous rush was made to the front 
gate, and when Madie alighted he was hugged to 
suffocation. 

“Where's father?” he inquired, as soon as he 
was released and they had started for the house. 

“ Daddy’s gone to the river,” answered the cava- 
lier who had had the glory of announcing the 
arrival, “ to catch some fish for supper.” 

“ We live now, my dear,” said his mother, “on 
fish and cornbread. Your papa says people that 
haven’t paid their taxes and store-bills are swin- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


IIS 

dlers if they eat white bread. You can’t think 
what a state he’s got into. He’s stopped his 
weekly paper and the Ladies Magazine^ and has 
actually sold the girls’ pony. We are all on the 
high road to ruin, that’s certain ; and nobody can 
do anything with him. I am so glad you have 
come.” 

“ Well, mother,” he said, “ I never was so fish- 
hungry in my life ; and pone — girls, I am dying for 
pone. Cook an extra one for me for supper. No- 
body knows how to cook out of old Virginia, and, 
as for pone, they don’t even know what the word 
means. Hurrah for old Virginny ! Ole Virginny 
never tire ! How glad I am to get home ! ” 

“Why, Madie,” said his sister, “you are as 
lively as ever. I thought the Northerners would 
have sobered you down by this time.” 

“ Madie will always be Madie,” said his mother, 
“ and I am glad of it. But, my son, what about 
this fortune ? I am afraid there is nothing in it ; 
your father has given it up completely long ago, 
and we daren’t speak of it before him, and we 
didn’t use to talk of anything else. The girls are 
very nigh crazy with disappointment, and I must 
say it goes hard with me too.” 

“ I for one,” said the eldest daughter, “ am not 
nigh crazy about it, whatever the others are.” 

“ Oh, gracious,” exclaimed her sister, “ you took 
it worse than anybody.” 

“ No, she didn’t, Madie,” interposed the cavalier, 


Ii6 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

“ for I took it worse. Because I was to get a 
pony and a gun when it came.” 

“And you shall have a gun, whether it comes 
or not,” said Madie, patting him on the head, 
“ for I will send you one as soon as you can 
use it. 

“ I can use one now,” he answered. “ I will go 
up in the mountains to old Lovat’s, where you 
went, and shoot bear, and a painter too, if she 
comes about me.” 

“To be sure you will,” answered Madie, “and 
deer, too, plenty of them.” 

“ By the way, Madie,” said his sister, “ old Lovat 
was down and dined with us since you left.” 

“Was he, indeed?” he said; “I am glad of it. 
How did you like him ? ” 

“ Why, he’s a queer old man,” she answered. 
“ He addressed mamma with the manner of a 
gentleman, and told me he had come down from 
the mountains to bring luck to the house. He 
and papa went down to fish, and the first thing 
we knew we saw him riding up the road without 
saying good-by to a soul. It strikes me he and 
papa had a quarrel on the river, though I can’t 
think about what, for papa didn’t go with him to 
the gate, and hasn’t mentioned him since.” 

“Yes, my dear,” said the mother, “and though 
none of you noticed it, I did ; it was on the even- 
ing after he was here that your poor father turned 
so queer. I have often thought since, that the old 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. lij 

man cast a spell on the house in place of bringing 
it luck.” 

“Well,” said Madison, “he’s a good man, and 
true, and I’ll go up to Castle Dounie and take a 
bear-hunt with him if I can before I leave.” 

“ Castle what ? ” inquired his sister. 

“ Dounie,” repeated Madie. “ The first time I 
met him was on Laurel Ridge. We were both 
after deer, and were close together in the bushes 
and rocks before we saw each other.” 

“ ‘ I was ready cocked to shoot you, young man,’ 
he said, ‘ I heard you coming through the bush.’ 

“ ‘ Who are you ? ’ said I, getting a little on my 
guard. 

“ ‘ Who am I ? ’ Tie repeated. * Why, who should 
I be but a lord ? ’ and he laughed quietly. 

“‘What’s the name of your castle ?’ said I, 
humoring the joke. 

“‘Dounie,’ he answered; ‘come and dine with 
me.’ And that’s the way we struck up an ac- 
quaintance.” 

“ And what does Castle Dounie look like ? ” 

“ It’s a warm, double log cabin,” he answered, 
“ with a big fire-place that blazes with pine logs 
in winter, skins of bear over the beds, chairs, floor, 
and walls. Plenty to eat — of game, that is — and 
a famous natural fountain of soft water coming 
out of the rocks close by.” 

“ Has he any family?” she inquired. 

“ None,” he answered ; “ he told me there was 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


1 18 

a curse on the Lovats, and he wanted the family 
to die out. It was he that put me in the notion 
of leaving home. It was while we were sitting at 
the fire at night, the day I killed the panther. 
He had been looking at the coals a long time, 
when he said : 

‘ Boy, you will grow into a mere hunter and 
loafer, and in a few years be a good-for-nothing, 
pleasant fellow, if you stay in Giles. Strike out. 
It’s a pity to see an eye that can outlook a hun- 
gry panther grow dim with dissipation’ — but 
there comes father,” and he ran down the river 
lawn to meet him. 

That evening after supper Madison handed his 
father a letter from Rosedow, A^hich he read to 
himself carefully and thoughtfully. The ladies, 
who knew it was touching the fortune, in a fever 
of excitement to learn its contents, sat about the 
table sewing. 

What do you think of the fortune. Mad?” he 
said presently. 

“ They say at Rosedow,” he answered, “ that 
your share is worth millions.” 

“Yes, so says this letter,” he continued, “but 
what do you say? You are not a fool, and I 
want your opinion, and the grounds on which you 
have formed it, if you have an opinion.” 

“ Well, to tell the truth,” Madison answered, “ I 
have no opinion formed on my own knowledge of 
the case. Every report that comes to Rosedow 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. I19 

is most flattering, and I would believe that 
they were true and reliable, and of course I want 
to believe them ; but I have a bad opinion of the 
source from which they come. Mind you, I 
know nothing against Pilot, and Mr. Decker 
trusts him absolutely, but his expression and 
manner displease me, and personally, mind, I 
wouldn’t trust him as far as I could sling a cat by 
the tail. That’s my private opinion of Pilot.” 

^^That settles it,” said his father. “The in- 
stinct of a gentleman never lies.” 

“ But, my goodness, papa,” broke in the daugh- 
ter, “ you won’t throw away the chance of a for- 
tune because Madie is jealous of Mr. Pilot. 
Madie, you know you’re jealous about Miss Della 
Decker, and you ought to be ashamed of your- 
self.” 

“ Madie, my dear sister, might once have been 
a little so,” said Madison, “but is so no longer; 
he has the inside track there, and can distance 
Pilot any day if he wants to, not saying that he 
wishes to distance anybody ; and his opinion of 
the attorney is not based, as you insinuate, on the 
tender passion. I hope he is all right, but I dis- 
trust him.” 

“ Judgment has been passed on Pilot,” said the 
father. “ Let him rest. And now hear what 
Mr. Decker says. He wishes me to sign a power 
of attorney to Pilot to hasten the settlement of 
the estate, says my share is worth millions, and 


120 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


settlement may be deferred a generation, if time 
is lost. I will be a millionaire in a few months in 
case I sign. And if I will not sign he will give 
me thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars for 
executing a transfer of my share ; and that if I sell 
to him he will pay in United States bonds or 
cash, as I may prefer. Now, what do you all 
think about it ? ” 

We will be rich in Giles,” said the mother, 
“ with thirty-seven thousand, William ; I say 
take it.” 

“ I agree with mother,” said the eldest son, 
“ and twenty will buy all the old land back.” 

“ I go for the millions,” said the daughter. 
“ How will we feel, if it all turns out true in six 
months ? ” 

“ If ! ” said Madison. “ If Pilot were honest, 
I’d say so too. The old gentleman will buy of 
others if he doesn’t buy of father. I am sure of 
that, so it is the same to him. I vote with 
mother.” 

Thousands in hand in Giles are better than 
millions in the fog in Holland,” said the father; 

bring me the pen and ink, mother; the die is 
cast.” 


CHAPTER IX. 


DECKER OF ROSEDOW IS FISHED FOR AND 
CAUGHT. 

A S Madison approached Rosedow on his return 
from Giles, he saw the iron gates swing open 
and Mr. Decker’s carriage come out and turn 
down the hill. It contained two gentlemen who 
were laughing gayly ; and, as it passed him, he 
recognized in one of them Mr. Pilot ; the other 
was a stranger. 

They had passed the morning in examining and 
discussing the Holland papers, or rather their 
attached translations, with Mr. Decker, and in 
discussions and negotiations. 

Mr. Decker,” said Pilot, on being shown into 
the library, “ permit me to introduce Mr. Rush of 
the city, one of the celebrities of Wall Street.” 

Happy to make your acquaintance, Mr. Rush,” 
said Decker. If I mistake not, you are the 
gentleman in negotiation for the Jersey share.” 

“ I was on the point of closing with him yester- 
day,” answered Rush, ‘‘ in the lobby of the Fifth 
Avenue, when Mr. Outcalt Decker stepped up and 
I introduced them. I was called away for a time. 


122 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


and when I rejoined them the Jersey gentleman 
informed me that he had concluded to nearly 
double his terms ; and the negotiation was broken 
off. He had not only decided on the same price 
as the Philadelphia gentleman, but had assumed 
his position as to the power of attorney, saying 
he would keep his hand from pen and paper.’’ 

“Why, this is very unfortunate,” said Mr. 
Decker. 

“ I have more ill news to give you,” said Pilot. 
“ The gentleman in negotiation with Outcalt 
Decker for his two shares has left for Europe to 
rejoin his family, and has given his broker orders 
not to go above thirty thousand, and Decker 
declares he will not touch it.” 

“ But for this,” said Rush, “ I would have 
bought at the advance price, after Mr. Pilot 
showed me the recent letters from Holland ; but 
delays are dangerous, Mr. Decker, delays are 
dangerous.” 

“ I showed him the bank’s proposal,” said 
Pilot, “ expecting he would buy all three shares 
and get us out of trouble.” 

“ I would buy them all most gladly, Mr. Pilot,” 
answered Rush, “ as I have already informed you, 
but for the heavy amounts I already have out on 
margins. I dare not run my bank account down 
too low.” 

“Very well,” answered Pilot, “you are the 
best judge of your own business. But we arc 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


123 


losing time. I came up to inform Mr. Decker 
fully of the state of affairs. I will hand you the 
Holland advices in the order of their dates. This 
is the letter of Mr. Van Velsen, advocate, *my 
Amsterdam associate, to the consul, with a 
translation attached ; this, the letter of the 
American consul, Mr. Obadiah Jones ; and this, 
Mr. Van Velsen’s last letter, enclosing this most 
important paper, the proposition of the Bank of 
Amsterdam to the heirs of Hendrik Dekker. 
They need no explanation that I can give. They 
speak for themselves.” 

Mr. Decker read them in their order carefully 
and laid them on the table, took off his glasses, 
and turned to his attorney. 

Mr. Pilot,” he said, this good news in its 
certainty and its magnitude is overwhelming. 
The total must be tremendous, if the monthly 
shipments are so large. But I do not see the 
total stated.” 

^^They could not give it with interest still run- 
ning,” said Pilot. “ Up to this time, we have been 
unable to get from them the rate of interest we 
could expect. In fact, like all the Hollanders, 
they have been exceedingly close, until the recent 
decision forced them to speak.” 

“ I have made calculations of compound interest 
on the principal at various rates,” said Mr. 
Decker, ‘‘and at five per cent, the amount is 
almost incredible, but there will be a reduction of 


124 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


perhaps an eighth of one per cent, for insurance 
and transfer.” 

“ I think,” said Pilot, “ in one way or another, 
they will manage to cut us down a quarter.” 

“ An eighth is as much,” interposed Rush, ‘‘ as 
I will submit to, if I become interested. I have 
paid for the transfer of gold both ways, and 
understand the rates.” 

I hope you will buy the Jersey share, Mr. 
Rush,” said Decker. ‘‘You will be a valuable 
ally.” 

“ I will buy,” he answered, “ if we can get the 
power signed within a day or two, not otherwise. 
Mr. Pilot informs me that Van Velsen is alarmed 
at the delay.” 

“ His letter, with the translation, is among the 
number I handed you, Mr. Decker,” said Pilot. 

“ I overlooked it then,” said Decker, putting on 
his glasses and turning over the letters before him. 
“ It is not here, sir,” he added, turning to Pilot. 

“I took it out to read on the cars,” said Pilot, 
“ and thought I had put it back. I must have 
put it in my pocket.” “With this, he drew from 
his inner breast-pocket several envelopes and 
looked them over. “Yes,” he added, with an air 
of satisfaction, “ here it is,” and, opening it, he 
handed it to Decker. 

“ Why, he writes,” said Decker, running over 
the letter with an alarmed look, “ that he has rea- 
son to believe, from a hint he has received from 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


125 


one of the directors, a friend of his, that unless a 
cablegram reaches the bank by the first proximo^ 
announcing the acceptance of its proposition, an 
appeal will be taken. And here we are,” he 
added, addressing Pilot, close on to the end of 
the month. What is to be done? ” 

“ I am a business man, Mr. Decker,” said Rush, 
interposing, “ and can see there is but one thing 
to be done, and that without loss of time. It is 
to buy the outstanding shares and cable the 
bank.” 

But who is to buy them ?” asked Decker in a 
despairing tone. 

‘‘ ril take one,” answered Rush, if you two 
gentlemen can manage the other two.” 

“ Professional etiquette would prevent me buy- 
ing,” said Pilot, “ if I had the money, which I 
honestly confess I have not. They have risen 
out of my reach.” 

“ I have just bought a share,” said Decker. ‘‘ I 
received a telegram yesterday from young Mr. 
Decker, from Lynchburg, Virginia, saying he was 
bringing on the transfer of his father’s interest at 
the same rate at which these are offered.” 

‘‘Then, Mr. Decker,” said Rush, “you are in 
too deep water to back out ; take my advice and 
wade through. That is sound business advice, 
depend upon it.” 

“ But I haven’t the money,” said Decker. 

“ A note secured by mortgage is as good as 


126 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


money in Wall Street,” said Rush. I’ll advance 
money on it, if that is all that is wanted. If my 
margins push me, I can get the money in half an 
hour, any time, by depositing them with my bank- 
er. Neither of the shareholders will leave be- 
fore the afternoon train to-morrow, ; at least, my 
man won’t, and he told me he thought Outcalt 
would not leave in the morning, though he spoke 
of doing so. At any rate, he will be found at the 
Fifth Avenue to-night.” 

“ But we haven’t time to arrange it to-day,” 
said Decker, greatly agitated. 

Why, as to that, if you wish to make the ar- 
rangement,” said Pilot, “ there is plenty of time 
to execute the papers and catch the evening 
train. You will have to send your coachman for 
a notary, and while he is gone I can draw up the 
mortgage and the note, and Mr. Rush his check.” 

“ Gentlemen,” said Decker, his hand trembling 
as he laid it on the table to steady it, “ I will be 
risking about my all, excepting Rosedow.” 

“ I never risk any thing,” said Rush. “ I am one 
of the Wall Street men who never lose. I 
wouldn’t give the Jerseyman a hundred dollars 
for his interest, unless the bank can be cabled be- 
fore the first ; and, if it can be cabled to-morrow. 
I’ll buy, if he doubles the price on me.” 

Mr. Decker rose from his chair, crossed the 
room, and pulled the bell-cord. 

Send the coachman in the phaeton,” he said 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


127 


to the servant who answered it, “ to town for Mr. 
Schultz, and if he is not in his office tell him to 
bring out some other notary. And tell him to 
drive fast.” 

He then took from his safe the deeds of his 
city property, and laid them on the table, and re- 
quested Mr. Pilot to take a seat and draw up the 
mortgage. Decker then began to pace the floor, 
and Rush drew up to the table, and, as Pilot was 
copying into the mortgage the description in one 
of the deeds, he glanced over the consideration in 
the others, and footed the amounts up. 

Mr. Decker,” he said, “ the consideration in 
these deeds is hardly sufficient to make the note 
what we Wall Street men call gilt-edged. Have 
you any objection to adding Rosedow to the 
mortgage? ” 

“ Yes, sir, I have,” he answered abruptly. ‘Hf 
the city property is not sufficient, the negotiation 
may drop. I will not mortgage my daughter’s 
home.” 

“The city property has risen in value, Mr. 
Rush,” said Pilot, alarmed at the change of tone 
in Decker, “and is ample. Take my word for it.” 

“I will take your word,” answered Rush, “or 
Mr. Decker’s word, for a million. Could I ask you 
for a glass of wine, Mr. Decker?” he said, rising. 
“ I am in the bad habit of taking one at this time 
in the day.’’ 

“Come out to the dining-room, gentlemen,” 


128 


A CAS7XE IN THE AIR. 


said Decker. I have some fine old brandy that 
you may prefer to wine. I can recommend it.” 

They took a glass of brandy, and Pilot, excus- 
ing himself, returned to his writing, leaving Decker 
and Rush at the sideboard. 

“ Mr. Decker,” said Rush, “ I think I will go to 
Amsterdam on the next steamer. My interest 
will exceed, many times, all my property in Wall 
Street, and, as neither Mr. Pilot nor Mr. Van Vel- 
sen is a financier, I fear the bank may overcharge 
us on the transfer account, if some one is not 
there who understands these matters. It is high- 
ly important that some one of us should be there 
before the first shipment, as that will establish the 
rate for all subsequent ones. Whether they 
charge a twelfth of one per cent., which I consider 
ample, on so vast a sum, or an eighth, will make 
a big difference to me and to us all, and I assure 
you, sir, I couldn’t sleep in my bed unless I knew 
we were properly represented there before the 
first shipment.” 

I am glad you think of going,” answered 
Decker. “ Be cautious, however, not to do any 
thing that may cause the least delay. I shall be 
very uneasy until the shipments commence. I 
wish a cablegram sent to me at each important 
step. You will favor me so far? ” 

“ Most gladly,” answered Rush, and nothing 
shall be done that will in any way harm us ; you 
may be sure of that. The papers of acceptance 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


129 


must be sent on the same steamer that I go on, 
as it will be the first following the cablegram. I 
would offer to be the bearer of them, but that I 
think it safer to send them by express to Van 
Velsen. Men are delayed by sickness or what not, 
and the express never gets sick. I believe I will 
try another glass of your exquisite brandy.’' 

“ Certainly,” answered Decker. “ I will join 
you,” and they returned to the library in harmony 
and fine spirits. 

The mortgage and note drawn. Rush drew his 
check on Belmont for seventy-five thousand, to 
the order of Mr. Samuel Decker, who indorsed 
it to Mr. John Pilot, who was to make the pur- 
chase. The note was drawn at ninety days, with 
six per cent, interest. Rush assuring Decker that 
it might run on a year if he liked. The notary 
arrived and took Decker’s acknowledgment to 
the mortgage ; the papers were passed and a hasty 
luncheon taken ; Decker saw the gentlemen in their 
carriage, and pressed their hands warmly after they 
were seated, and the carriage was driven rapidly 
out of the iron gate, the gentlemen within it in a 
fine flow of spirits, and down the hill, passing 
Madison coming up, and on to the station to catch 
the evening train. Rush tearing to small pieces 
his check on Belmont and letting them flutter out 
of the carriage window as they drove gaily along. 

The next morning a letter was mailed to Rose- 
dow inclosing the transfer of two shares in the 


130 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

Decker estate, from John Outcalt Decker, of 
Philadelphia, duly acknowledged, and a copy of 
a cablegram said to have been sent that morning 
to the president and directors of the Bank of 
Holland, and notice of the purchase by Mr. Rush 
of the Jersey share. The note and mortgage were 
placed in the hands of a broker in Wall Street, 
who, after due investigation, bought them ; and 
the two gentlemen, after deducting fifty dollars 
for Barney, divided the proceeds. 

This gentleman was taken into the office as 
clerk ; a.nd, not having much work to engage 
his attention, whiled away the time in writ- 
ing the signatures of innumerable Deckers of 
every imaginable forename, which occupation 
seemed to exercise over him an irresistible 
fascination. He slept in a small back room 
opening into the office, and at a reduced price 
occupied a seat at the second table at Yost’s. 
He decorated the walls of the office with maps of 
the Decker property in the city, showing it in a 
state of nature, covered with primeval forests and 
occupied by an Indian family — in the condition 
he supposed it to have appeared at the death of 
Hendrik Dekker, with a flock of diminutive, tow- 
headed Dekkers playing hide-and-seek in a cab- 
bage patch — and as it now was, covered with 
stately buildings. He so identified himself with 
the family that he dreamed, and almost brought 
himself to believe, that he was a Decker by birth. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 131 

and had been exchanged in the cradle. He was 
proud of his promotion, and began the study of 
the law, and would have been quite content but 
for the names of Thaddeus and John Outcalt 
Decker, that rose up at times before his mental 
vision. In his waking hours he banished these 
obtrusive signatures by a resort to the Two 
Goats ” around the corner; but in the visions of 
the night they came in person and disturbed his 
sleep. 

During the absence of his employers one day 
and night, Barney had turned the corner so fre- 
quently that he woke up late the following morn- 
ing with a headache. He arranged the office and 
unlocked the door ; and, after turning the corner 
a couple of times in quick succession, found him- 
self so ill that he retired to his bed in the back 
room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Soon after. 
Pilot and Rush entered and fell into conversation. 

‘‘When Barney comes from breakfast,” said 
Rush, “ send him out on a long errand. I want 
an hour or so with you ; we must talk matters 
over a little.” 

“ I am feeling disturbed about the situation at 
Rosedow,” said Pilot. “The old gentleman is 
getting very uneasy and, I fear, suspicious.” 

“Who cares how he gets?” answered Rush. 
“ The old beggar can do nothing.” 

“ I am not so sure of that,” said Pilot ; “ he had 
a dangerous look the day you spoke to him of 


132 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

including Rosedow in the mortgage. He’ll bite, 
if he gets his blood up." 

‘‘Bite if he gets his blood up," echoed Rush. 
“Why, what on earth can he do? He hasn’t 
stirred from the house since he learned the Bank 
of Amsterdam had taken an appeal, and he can’t ; 
it broke him down. And, if he tried, what harm 
can he do us?^" 

“ I don’t see that he has any proof," answered 
Pilot. “ The notary heard nothing of the check, 
nor did he know anything of the negotiation." 

“ Certainly not," said Rush ; “ no check passed. 
I loaned you bonds which you paid over to Out- 
calt. I needed my money back, being pushed, 
and sold the note and mortgage. We have done 
no wrong. The matter is very simple ; the old 
man may swear to what he likes. He has no 
witnesses to anything unless he hunts up Thad- 
deus and Outcalt Decker; and he’ll have a good 
time finding them." 

“ He might find Barney,’’ said Pilot. 

“ I’ll put Barney where he will be hard to find, 
in case the old man stirs — as hard to find as his 
old friends, Thaddeus and Outcalt." 

At this remark Barney trembled on his cot. 

“ Now, what about Hollanda’s bonds ? ’’ inquired 
Rush. “ What do you think of our chances 
there ? " 

“ She is interested in the case, of course," an- 
swered Pilot, “ but will not take the hint to buy. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


133 


She says if it comes to any thing, she will have 
enough and more from her own interest. We 
may as well give her up.’' 

“ In that case,” said Rush, “ there is nothing 
more to be done. We may as well give the 
Decker family a rest, and turn our attention to 
some other enterprise.” 

I think,” said Pilot, we had better turn the 
family over to Barney to squeeze dry. A circular 
letter making an assessment of three dollars on 
each share will be popular, and reach a number of 
poor devils that the ten-dollar call was too heavy 
for. It will pay the running expenses of the 
office, at least, and may serve to open up another 
vein like Rosedow. The fools are not all dead 
yet.” 

I will put an item in the Evening News,'' said 
Rush, insinuating that Decker, of Rosedow, is 
going mad on account of the appeal. It can do 
no harm, and that shall be my parting shot. I 
will then wash my hands of the detestable family. 
I am sick of them — sick of Thaddeus ; sick of 
John Outcalt ; sick even of Barney, for he is one 
of them.” 

“ Exchanged in the cradle,” thought Barney, 
as he lay trembling with fear lest they should dis- 
cover him. 


CHAPTER X. 


THE COON-HUNTER AND THE GHOST. 

OST occasionally passed the office of Pilot 



1 after dark, and turning the corner sought, 
like Barney, rest and relaxation from the cares of 
life at the Two Goats. A few minutes after he 
had entered one evening he was followed by Rush, 
who invited him into the small back room, unoc- 
cupied at the time, and, seating himself, ordered 
refreshments. 

“Yost,” said he, after they had passed some 
time in conversation and drinking, and the ice 
between them had been broken, “ suppose we 
resume the conversation we had on the evening 
before I took lodgings at 501 ? ” 

“ I am agreeable if you are,” answered Yost. 

“Well,” resumed Rush, “ I said then that I 
didn’t recognize the handwriting of the fragment 
of a letter you showed me, when in fact I did.” 

“I knew you did,” answered Yost, “very 


well.” 


“Yes,” said Rush, “you trapped me very art- 
fully with your address at the bottom of a letter 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 135 

that had no bottom. It was not bad. I would 
have been proud of it myself." 

“ How do you know the letter had no bottom ? " 
inquired Yost. 

“Ah, that’s telling; and before answering ques- 
tions we must agree to be candid on both sides. 
Now, Yost, this must be settled before we go on. 
Are we to work in company or continue to work 
apart ? " 

“ I have not been working, as you call it," an- 
swered Yost, “but I understand what you are 
driving at, and the long and the short of it is that 
if you tell me what you know about the writer 
I will tell you what I know." 

“ Will you divide the bundle even r " asked 
Rush. 

“ What bundle ? " 

“ The bundle that Isaac Rinemond hid the 
night he fell from the porch of the Red Lion," 
answered Rush. 

“ If I get the bundle," said Yost, “ I will give it 
to the heirs of Rinemond. If they choose to give 
me any thing, well and good ; if not, let them 
keep it." 

“ Suppose he had no heir," said Rush, “ what 
then ? " 

“Why, then, if that is so," answered Yost, “it 
puts a different face on the matter. Then I sup- 
pose finders will be keepers." 

“ Just so," said Rush. “lean prove that he 


136 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


had no heir, and no trusted friend beside my- 
self." 

“You think I know where the bundle is hidden, 
Rush, but you are mistaken." 

“ I think no such thing," he answered, “ but 
you know the most likely hiding-places about the 
Red Lion, and you knew of his movements, and 
if any one can find it you are most likely the 
man. I have been to Benvelt, and have read the 
letter without an end and without an address, 
and all the coroner’s proceedings. Now, if you 
tell me all that you left out at the investigation, 
I will tell all I know about Rinemond." 

“ You hunted for the bundle at the Red Lion, 
of course?" inquired Yost. 

“ Of course," answered Rush. 

“ I never did," said Yost. “ I thought the heirs 
might look for it themselves when they turned up. 
I have no particular fancy for hunting up what the 
dead have hidden." 

“ A little superstitious, perhaps," said Rush. 
“ I think that is what they call such discrimin- 
ation in favor of the dead." 

“You may call it what you like," answered 
Yost, “ but everybody’s got it, more or less." 

“ I think," said Rush, “ I may flatter myself I 
am entirely free from it. When a man is dead, 
he’s dead, and there’s an end of him." 

“ I don’t know certain as to that, nor you 
either," answered Yost. “But to come back to 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. I37 

your proposition. I told every thing I knew at 
the investigation, but not all I thought; for there 
was no call for it. I heard a noise at the back 
door, after I went to bed, and thought he was 
going out. But I soon fell asleep, and heard 
nothing more until I woke up in the night. 
Whether the noise was made by him or not, I am 
doubtful. But I think he went out. And I am 
pretty sure, if I went down to the Red Lion, I 
could find the bundle, for I know every corner in 
the outhouses and stables ; but he might have 
buried it in the garden, and then I don’t say. 
The rains would have removed all signs.” 

“ I believe you have told all you know,” 
answered Rush, “ and now for my part of the 
bargain ; and I will be perfectly candid with you, 
for if we are to do any thing we must understand 
each other. I am the only man Rinemond ever 
confided his story to. He was the cashier of a 
bank, and trusted me with his money to bet on 
the rise and fall of stock in Wall Street, as he 
would have lost his position if he had bet himself. 
It was a secret between us, and it was this that 
made us fast friends. Of course, he paid me a 
percentage, but I left it in his hands, and had 
never drawn it out, and it went into new deals, as 
my share in them. The market became unsettled 
and dangerous, and we had withdrawn and were 
waiting for a change before resuming operations, 
when one night he came to my room in great 


138 


A CAS7XE IN THE AIR. 


agitation. He said the president of the bank, 
through a broker, was feeding a margin on stocks 
that were falling heavily day by day, and was 
exhausting the bank reserve to keep it up, and 
that, if a turn in the market did not come in a 
day or two, there would be nothing left, and his 
certificate of deposit would be waste-paper. 

“ ‘ Rush,’ he said, ^ I will not stand by and 
see the foundation swept from under me that I 
have built up with such labor. I am not like 
other men ; I have no family or friends to fall 
back on, and I must look out for myself. Come,’ 
he said after a pause, ‘ I’ll do what I have never 
done yet ; I wdll tell you my story. 

The first recollection I have of myself,’ he 
went on, ‘ was dodging the wheels of carriages 
and carts in the Jews’ quarter in Amsterdam, a 
little, ragged chap, dirty and uncared for. I do 
not remember my mother, but my father I have 
a faint recollection of, as well as of the dirty little 
room we lay in at night, for in the day he was 
absent at some work, and I was on the street. 
He was a sallow little man, and his dress was, if 
possible, more greasy and tattered than my own. 
He must have had regular employment, for he 
always brought something to eat home at night, 
and he had breakfast early in the morning, after 
which we went out, and he locked the door and 
walked off, leaving me to forage for dinner in the 
gutters. He was a downhearted man, and seldom 


A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. I39 

spoke to me, but he treated me kindly, and I 
have a pitiful memory of him. One night I 
waited for him until I fell asleep on the steps, 
but he never came back. I returned for a night 
or two and slept outside the door, and then 
wandered into the city and became lost. 

“ ^ The next thing I remember, I was standing 
on the seashore, watching a man wading in from 
a boat with a basket of fish on his head. How I 
got there, I know not. I recall a collection of 
huts near the water, a little church, the ringing of 
the bell, a small man in a black gown who taught 
me to read and cipher a little ; and then comes 
another blank, and I see myself on the deck of a 
ship, knocked down by a slap from the cook, 
with a vague recollection of having been picked 
up at sea, thirsty and hungry. From this dates 
my continuous memory of the past. I was assist- 
ant to the ship’s cook, and in my leisure hours 
resumed my writing and ciphering for company 
to pass the time ; a boy must be occupied with 
something. A young sailor who told me he had 
been drugged and crimped, seeing me at this, 
took an interest in me and helped me over hard 
places, and I became in time a proficient in both 
exercises. I voyaged on this and other ships 
until I suppose I was about eighteen years old — 
how old of, course, I don’t know — and had saved 
a little money, when we put into this harbor, and 
I got a clerkship at a small shipchandler’s near 


140 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


the wharf. From this I rose gradually to my 
present position. And I will not,’ he added, rising 
to his feet, ‘ stand by and see myself robbed.” 

“ The next day a boy brought me a note from 
him saying he would be at my rooms at midnight, 
and asking if I would be in and receive him. I 
answered in the affirmative, and at the appointed 
time he came. 

“ ‘ Rush,’ he said, ‘ I am on my way to the Cen- 
tral station, to take one of the earliest trains. 
Where I shall go, I have not determined. I shall 
think it over and decide as I go down, perhaps 
take the first one that pulls out. I have here,’ 
tapping his breast-pocket, *the last bundle of 
unregistered bonds the president has left in the 
vault. If I had not taken it to-night, he would 
take it to-morrow, and day after to-morrow the 
bank will break. Do you want what is due you 
out? ’ 

* No,’ I answered, ^ don’t break the bundle 
here.’ 

^‘‘Well,’ he said, ‘you can trust me. I will 
write as soon as I reach a safe harbor. I shall 
not go far. This bundle,’ again tapping it with 
his finger, ‘ contains many times as much as the 
bank owes us both. I had no time when I took 
it to stand by and count it out. Moments were 
precious, and there was no time for ceremony ; 
besides it is simple wreckage ; all will go to the 
bottom in a few hours. There will be pursuit, of 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 141 

course. Assist in throwing it off the track, and 
we will divide the bundle when the wind goes 
down and the sea gets calm. Use the news- 
papers. I will give you one pointer before I start 
— I am not going across the water or to Canada. 
It will soon blow over. You will help?' 

“‘Yes,’ I answered, ‘but don’t address me 
here. Address me at the Evening News ! ’ 

“ ‘ Good-by,’ he answered, and walked out. 

“You know the rest. He was the only one 
that went to the bottom. The bank and all con- 
nected with it floated. The next day the stocks 
rebounded and went high up. The president 
quietly made good the missing bonds, and said 
nothing about them. The bank people said, 
when any one inquired for Cook, that he had re- 
signed and gone west.” 

“Cook was his real name, then?” said Yost, 
“and not Rinemond.” 

“Neither was his real name,” answered Rush; 
“ he never knew his real name. They called him 
‘Cook ’on shipboard,*’ and he began to sign it 
that way, and kept it up until he registered that 
evening at the Red Lion.” 

“ He was never married ? ” inquired Yost. 

“Surely not,” answered Rush. “If you doubt 
it, I will name the bank, and you will find he had 
no wife and no relatives. You may go to his 
boarding-house and hear the same. He has left 
no heir, and the bank won’t acknowledge a loss^ 


142 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

and has met with none. The president made it 
up gambling on the bank’s money. You may 
take your half of the bundle with a clear con- 
science.” 

“Well,” said Yost, “ I’ll go in. When shall we 
go down to the Lion and hunt it up ? ” 

“Thursday, if it will suit you,” answered Rush ; 
“prepare to stay two weeks, if need be. Barney 
and I are going out to beat up some Decker 
clients in the rural districts, and you to try to 
rent the Red Lion, you understand. We will not 
leave on the same train. It is not necessary that 
Pilot should know where I am going, or Mrs. 
Yost what you are going for. Sit down a mo- 
ment and I will write you a note from Slugger 
about the man that wants to rent. Mrs. Yost 
may like to read it.” 

It would have been difficult for Mr. Slugger to 
have denied the authenticity of the letter now 
indited to Yost, and signed with his name, it so 
resembled the letter he had written in style, ar- 
rangement, and spelling, l^ilot was advised that 
Rush would introduce Barney to their country 
clients, and that they would beat up any outlying 
Deckers they might find in the bush, and make as 
good a bag as possible. Hollanda was pleased at 
the prospect of renting their old home, and thus 
rescuing it, perhaps, from the domination of the 
spirit of Rinemond, or the “ last guest,” as she 
mournfully called him, and Pilot, who was tiring 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


143 


of the companionship of both Rush and Barney, 
was glad to see them set out on a new campaign 
against the unhappy Deckers. They left the 
house at different hours, but went down on the 
same train and got off at Baker Station. Yost 
laid in a supply of groceries and provisions, and 
the grocer’s wagon carried them out and depos- 
ited them on the front porch of the ancient inn. 
The keys were at Slugger’s or near there, and it 
was concluded to walk over the hills by the short 
cut, and spend the night at the Coon. Rush now 
informed Yost of the disappearance of Dandy 
and his coat and lunch on the day of his former 
visit, and it was decided to hide the provisions in 
the barn. This done, they set out to cross the 
hills. Rush on the way informing his companions 
that he was known at the Coon as “Rankin,” 
and wished to be so addressed while there, and of 
his proposition to Slugger to rent the Lion. 
Thus instructed, they in due time arrived at the 
Coon, and entered the bar-room as evening was 
coming on. They found Sam there. 

“ Why, my goodness gracious me, Mr. Yost,” 
said he, shaking his hand, “how do you do? 
The sight of you’s good fur sore eyes ; and Mr. 
Rankin, too, as live as ever, and don’t look 
pulled down a bit. The spirit don’t seem to heve 
troubled him much, Mr. Slugger, for all you 
thought it would.” 

“ Not so fur,” answered Slugger, “ apparently'" 


144 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


‘‘ Has any one seen the spirit since I left ? 
inquired Rush. 

“ Seen it ? ” answered Slugger, “ I should think 
so. Ask Sam. He’s been over a-mousin’ about 
the Lion a-huntin’ that bundle, and he cum back 
the other night with his teeth a-chatterin’ in his 
head. He’ll have no head to chatter ’em in 
afore long, if he keeps on. He’s the darndest 
fool this side o’ Baker Station.” 

“I’m done, Mr. Slugger,” said Sam. “You 
won’t see me there no more, not ef I know my- 
self.” 

“ Why, what scared you so Sam ? ” asked Yost. 

“ Well, gentle;-^^;^,” said Sam, addressing the 
newcomers, “ I’ll tell you how it was, and I wish 
I may never die ef I go that nigh the house agin. 
Well, I was over there the other evenin’ a-lookin’ 
round the Lion fur a coon track.” Here he 
paused to wink at Rush, and Mirandy laughed. 
“An’ the fust thing I knowed I was close to the 
garden fence, an’ I see somethin’ bright-like, 
a-shinin’ inside. So I peeped through the palins 
and it turned out to be a bit of tin. Seeing this, 
sorter ’ticed me on, an’ I walked down the fence 
a-peepin’ through promiscuous, when all of a 
sudden I heerd a most 2, awful groan, an’ lookin’ 
up I found I was close to the smoke-house, an’ 
then a all-fired rattlin’ o’ chains, an’ I lit out. No 
man, I don’t keer who he is, never made no bet- 
ter speed. I got to the top o’ Possum Knob in 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


145 


less than no time, an’ somethin’ a-breathin’ hard 
behind me at every jump, and a-feelin’ out for 
me. Mebbe the shivers didn’t run down my 
back. I didn’t draw breath till I got into Rac- 
coon Holler ; an’ I wouldn’t a-done it then, but 
I felt kinder safe a-gittin’ near the Coon ; an’ 
I’d a dropped ef I hadn’t. You ketch me goin’ 
anigh that durned Red Lion agin. Not fur all 
the bundles — coons, I mean — inside all Jersey, 
an’ outside too. No, sir, gentle;^/^;/, not me.” 

“ Stick to that, Sam,” said Slugger, encourag- 
ingly, and you may pull through all safe yet.” 

I’m not much afeerd, Mr. Slugger,” an- 
swered Sam. I kin outrun any spirit agoin’ ef I 
git a fair start. What I’m afearin’ of is bein’ 
ketched onawares.” 

Dandy can do that if you give him a start,” 
said Mirandy. “ That’s no trick, Sam.” 

No, Dandy can’t. Miss Mirandy,” answered 
Sam. Dandy’s a good boss ; I’ve nothin’ to say 
agin him ; but no boss as ever lived could a got 
to the top o’ Possum Knob as quick as I did* 
It ain’t in ’em.” 

“This is rather scary talk,” said Yost. “Slug- 
ger, let’s have something to drink to wash it 
down with. Step up to the bar, gentlemen ; 
come up, Sam.” 

“You’re not afraid of Slugger’s spirits, I sup- 
pose, Sam,” said Rush smiling. 

“ No, I ain’t, Mr. Rankin,” answered Sam, 


146 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


^‘nor of no other kind when there’s company 
around. Them spirits is so durned cowardly they 
dassent attack a feller in a crowd. They lay fur 
him in the hills at night, when he’s alone, an’ 
can’t see well, an’ can’t git away fast; that’s their 
style.” 

“ Do you fear them in the daytime, Sam,” said 
Rush, “when you’re alone?” 

“ No, I don’t, Mr. Rankin,” answered Sam — 
“ that is, not much, not to speak of.” 

“ It wasn’t dark yet the other night, was it,” 
inquired Rush, “ when you started up Possum 
Hill ? ” 

“ It was plaguey nigh to it, Mr. Rankin ; an’ 
I mean I don’t fear ’em much in. the day, ef they 
keep their mouths shet, an’ don’t say nothin.’ 
But when they come to groanin’ an’ shakin’ of 
chains, that’s business, an’ I’ll light out every 
time.” 

“You didn’t see anything of that — er — coon I 
was talking to you about hunting up when I 
was down last, did you ? ” 

“ Not a hair of his hide, Mr. Rankin,” Sam 
answered, “ an’ I turned over every log an’ 
looked into every holler stump and tree in a cir- 
cle all round the Lion. It’s my belief the spirits 
found it, and hid it away in some other place, 
an’ hangs about the Lion to fool us an’ make 
us believe it’s there yit, and to keep us away 
from the new place. That’s my belief, Mr. Ran- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


147 


kin, an’ I ought to know somethin’ about the 
ways of them spirits by this time, ef I’m ever to 
larn.” 

“ You know I don’t believe in spirits, Sam,” 
said Rush, “ and I can’t agree with you.” 

“Well, Mr. Rankin, let me tell you somethin’ 
that happened sence you was here before. A 
lot of us fellers was a-coon-huntin’ an’ a-comin’ 
home early in the mornin’ an’ a-crossin’ the hill 
near the Lion, an’ begun about the spirit. I was 
a-tellin’ ’em what you said bout ther bein’ no 
spirits, an’ one feller spoke up and said he 
agreed with you, an’ he didn’t think ther wasn’t 
none nether; an’ Joe Snider said he’d give him 
a coon he’d cotched ef he’d go down the hill an’ 
into the yard and knock at the back door. Joe 
didn’t think he’d go, or he wouldn’t a-offered his 
coon ; but Hunter hadn’t caught no coon that 
night, an’ he wanted one, and so he went. Well, 
we all stood out on the edge o’ the hill, where 
we could see the back door plain, an’ watched 
him. When he got near the garden fence, he 
begun to walk slow an’ kep’ a-lookin’ back, an’ 
we waved our hats at him, an’ he dumb the fence 
an’ walked quick to the door an’ give a rap. 
An’ as quick as lightnin’ he turned an’ run like 
a rabbit with a dog after him, an’ he tried to 
clear the fence at a jump, an’ his feet ketched 
an’ he fell over, an’ got up with a sprain, an’ 
cum limpin’ up the hill like a dog on three legs. 


148 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


An’ when he got back to us, he set down on a 
stone to rest ; an’ his face was white, an’ he 
looked faintlike, an’ was the wo’st skeered feller 
I ever see, twice as bad skeered as ever I was. 
An’ Snider offered him the coon, an’ he said he 
didn’t want no coon. An’ ever sence then, when 
I see a feller a-tryin’ to make out he don’t 
believe in sperits, I sez to myself — ‘ Si Hunter ! ’ ” 


CHAPTER XI. 


A MIDNIGHT APPARITION AT THE RED LION. 

I N the morning Slugger brought in the keys of 
the Red Lion from the hole in the rocks, their 
place of deposit, and the party prepared to cross 
the hills. Rush, who disliked walking, hired 
Dandy, and offered Sam a fabulous sum, two 
dollars a day and his board, to come with them 
to the Lion and cook and serve them during their 
stay. 

*‘Go," said Mirandy ; “you'll never git another 
sich offer in your born days." 

“ Don't go, Sam," said her father ; “ what's 
money?" 

“ Money's money," said Sam, torn by the op- 
posing emotions of avarice and fear, “ an' it's the 
tallest offer I ever heerd tell of. It’s enough to 
take a feller’s breath away. An’ I’ll tell you 
what I’ll do, Mr. Rankin — there's four of us an’ 
only one spirit, Mr. Slugger — ef you let me ride 
Dandy down to the station, and bring up a jug 
o’ whiskey, an’ keep it on tap continual, I’ll go. 
I’ll be darned ef I don’t. I’ll be dad fetched ef I 
don’t ! " 


ISO A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

Slugger said he always knew Sam was a fool, 
and with this parting salute they set out, Sam in 
the lead, swinging his arms defiantly. When they 
reached the Possum Knob, Sam halted, and as 
the party came up pointed out the course he had 
pursued in the memorable retreat from the smoke- 
house, across some very rough and impracticable 
ground until he fell into the path, when his pace 
became “tremenjous and also the brow of a 
hill opposite where the coon-hunters stood and 
witnessed the advance and assault of Hunter on 
the back door, and his disastrous retreat. Stimu- 
lated by these reminiscences, he again led on in 
the path, descending leisurely, where he had late 
fled up ; the rim of his felt hat in front turned up 
and back communicated to his countenance a 
daredevil expression; altogether he presented 
the appearance of one to whom fear was a 
stranger. Their route, approaching the premises 
by the rear, brought them first to the barn ; and 
here they halted and went in to see if their pro- 
visions were safe. They found the covering as 
they had left it, but on removing it discovered 
that the goods were gone. They passed out and 
followed the fence along which Sam had looked 
for the coon-tracks. He pointed out the bit of 
tin that had allured him into danger, and when 
they neared the smokehouse showed them his 
foot-prints in the sand, in which he was standing 
when the groaning and rattling of chains burst on 


A CASTLE LY THE AIR. 


his terrified ear. When they turned the corner 
and approached the front of the house, Sam fixed 
his eyes on the dread water-trough, and stopped. 

“ Lord a massy,’' he exclaimed, “ there’s the 
groceries! ” and sure enough, neatly piled up in 
the center of the trough, rose a pyramid of bun- 
dles, papers of tobacco and white clay pipes orna- 
menting the summit, in tasteful array. Rush 
offered the keys to Sam, and told him to unlock 
the front door and they would carry in the bun- 
dles ; but Sam backed from him and declined to 
receive them. 

would ruther Mr. Barney would do it,” he 
said, “ an’ I couldn’t even go in without I git a 
dram fust. I couldn’t indeed, Mr. Rankin. Ef 
you don’t object. I’ll git on Dandy an’ go for the 
liquor. I’ll not be gone long, and it’s got to be 
got anyway.” 

Rush handed him some money and told him to 

go- 

“ Mr. Rankin,” he said, “ there’s enough money 
here to git two jugs and more ; an’ ef it’s agree- 
able, I’ll jist buy two instead of one. They’ll 
balance one another on Dandy, an’ look more 
sociable like. It’s hard totin’ one jug by itself.” 

“ All right,” answered Rush, and Sam mounted 
and rode off, pluming himself on his diplomacy. 
The doors were thrown open and the windows of 
the bar-room and kitchen. They ascended to the 
garret, and Barney set to work bringing down 


152 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


chairs, bedding, and cooking utensils, and sweeping 
out the apartments intended for occupancy. The 
beds were made down in the long dining-room 
opening into the kitchen and hall, excepting one 
for Rush, who, in his character as the skeptic of 
the party, ordered Barney to build a fire in the 
Rinemond room on the front porch to drive out 
the damp, and to put it in good order. These 
arrangements made. Rush and Yost seated them- 
selves on the back porch and entered into consul- 
tation. 

“ Now,” said Rush, after a detailed account of 
the search he made on his first visit, where do 
you think it’s likely he hid the bundle?” 

“ First tell me,” answered Yost, how you ex- 
plain the strange movements going on here.” 

It’s some fellows trying to scare us off, 
of course.” 

** What for? ” inquired Yost. 

“ To buy the place cheap from you, or to get 
the bundle themselves. I have no doubt it is to 
get the bundle.” 

I am not so sure about that,” said Yost 
gloomily. 

“ Now, look here, Yost,” said Rush. Don’t 
play into the enemy’s hand by getting frightened. 
Listen to me. The unfinished letter of Rinemond 
shows clearly that a very valuable package was 
hidden by him that night. That letter was made 
public in Benvelt, and what more natural than that 


A CASTLE JN THE AIR, 


153 

some parties should set to work to find it? Here’s 
how it is, in my opinion. A small syndicate of men, 
probably not more than three, well off and able to 
keep the thing up, are on the search through 
agents, and are driving everybody away by super- 
natural appearances. They know the prize is 
great, and that, sooner or later, they, if undis- 
turbed, will find it. We have to deal with an 
organization that has money and intelligence be- 
hind it. While we are on the ground we stop 
their search ; and if we stick to it long enough 
we will find the prize ourselves, if it is to be found, 
and divide it between us, and both be rich. Now 
keep your head level, and let’s get back to busi- 
ness. Where do you think it most likely it is 
hidden ? ” 

^‘You are sure it is not in the rooms above?” 
said Yost. 

It is not there,” answered Rush. “ I examined 
them thoroughly, nor in the rooms in the main 
hall. It is not worth while going over that 
ground again.” 

“Well then,” said Yost, “it was him that I 
heard at the back door in the night, and he must 
have carried it out and hidden it in an out-house, 
or in the barn. Now, I judge others by myself. 
Rush, and if you or I opened this door in the 
night with a valuable bundle to hide, where 
would we hide it, being strangers, of course, to 
the premises ? There’s the wash-hoqse and wood- 


154 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


house on the right, and the smoke-house on the 
left, and the barn in front. I myself would go 
straight to the barn, for I know a barn has so 
many good hiding-places ; but Rinemond, having 
been a seafaring boy and a city man, knew 
nothing about barns, and would most likely turn 
into the first out-house he came to, and that was 
the wash-house. He may have read about barns 
in stories, and of people hiding in them, or more 
likely read of it in the papers, and may have gone 
straight to the barn. The barn is the place above 
all to hide in ; but I think Rinemond, or I in his 
place, would have turned into the wash-house. 
Suppose we begin there.” 

“Very well,” said Rush, “ let us go to work. 
Tell Barney to bring us a ladder, and we will not 
leave the wash-house until we find it, or know 
that it is not there. No going over the same 
ground twice.” 

Sam, at this moment, arrived with the jugs, 
which were put behind the bar, and one of them 
placed on tap. Dandy was turned into the pad- 
dock, and Sam pressed into the service, well forti- 
fied ; and the search began. Every article left in 
it by Hollanda was carried out, the flooring raised, 
the rafters searched, and even the ground along 
the walls moved and the roof gone over, but all 
in vain. The bundle was not there. After a late 
dinner, the wood-house underwent a similar over- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 155 

hauling with a like result, and, evening coming on, 
they retired in-doors for the night. 

Yost had brought down with him the “ Mys- 
teries of Udolpho ” to while away the evenings, 
never having resumed it since it suggested to him 
the train of thought that ended in the death of 
Rinemond. After supper, and when the company 
had finished their smoke, and conversation over 
the events of the day had begun to lag, Yost took 
up the “ Mysteries,” and, at the request of Sam, 
seconded by Barney, read aloud, beginning where 
he had left off in the middle of a blood-curdling 
story. Sam, who took it all for gospel, soon fell 
into a state of terrified absorption ; his jaw fell 
and his eyes, wide open, were fixed on the face of 
the reader. Suddenly an odor of burning sulphur 
began to pervade the apartment, and the doors 
and windows rattled with an explosion that shook 
the building. Sam sprang to his feet with a 
yell. 

Lord a massy, gentle;;^^;/,” he exclaimed, it’s 
got us ! ” 

Rush drew his pistol and, seizing the candle, 
ran into the hall ; the others, afraid to remain in 
the dark, followed. All was as silent as death, the 
hall dark and deserted. They went into the bar- 
room, out into the yard, and up to the porch, and 
looked into the fatal chamber where Rush pro- 
posed to pass the night ; but, being unable to dis- 
cover any sign of a living being, returned to the 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


156 

kitchen. Rush put the candle and pistol on the 
table, and resumed his seat. 

“ Gentlemen,” he said, “ unless I miss my mark, 
there will be another coroner’s jury in this house 
before long. I am a dead shot, and when I do 
shoot I shoot to kill.” 

“ Lord, Mr. Rankin, how you talk ! ” said Sam, 
pale and awe-struck, in a subdued tone. “Spirits 
don’t mind pistols no more than nothin’. You 
can’t kill a spirit, for why ? — it’s dead a’ready. I 
wouldn’t talk so, ef I was you. It’ll on’y make 
’em wo’se. I’d talk polite, cause they hear every 
word that’s said. That would be my style.” 

Rush put his pistol in his pocket, lit a fresh 
candle, and went upstairs to bed. He threw a log 
on the fire, double-locked the door, fastened down 
the windows, and sat for an hour before retiring, 
looking in the fire, thinking and listening. As 
soon as he had left the kitchen, Yost locked the 
door, and the two doors leading from the hall 
into the dining-room, and fastened down the 
windows. 

“ Well, Sam,” he said, as he resumed his seat, 
“do you think we are safe in here for the night?” 

“ I’m afeard not, Mr. Yost,” he answered ; 
“ them sperits kin git in ef the doors is locked. 
I don’t know rightly how, but they git in. Some 
think through the keyhole or at the cracks, and 
some think down the chimbley. I don’t intend 
to sleep near no doors to-night, nor chimbleys 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


157 


nuther. I never heerd of a sperit a cornin’ in at 
a winder when it was shet — not a tight winder — 
there ain’t room enough.” 

“ Barney,” said Yost, “throw a log of wood on 
the fire, and let’s all fill our pipes and take a smoke, 
and drown out the smell of sulphur. It’s mighty 
disagreeable.” 

“ It always goes agin my stomach,” said Sam, 
“ ’specially at night. I never heerd of a sperit a 
drinkin’ whiskey, Mr. Yost, nor they can’t drink; 
but ef them two jugs is left in the bar to-night, 
they’ll be gone in the mornin’, that’s as sure as 
we’re a-settin’ here now a-wantin’ a drink.” 

“ Well,” said Yost, “ go in and get them.” 

“ I’ll carry the candle, gentle;//^;/,” Sam an- 
swered, “ ef you two come along an’ carry the 
jugs. I’m not afeard to go ef you ain’t.” 

The jugs were brought out by the party in force, 
and tapped frequently during the remainder of the 
evening. As their spirits rose, the conversation 
flowed freely, and Sam in particular became 
pretty bold. 

“ I’m gettin’ big wages,” he said, “ and I’ll stick 
to Mr. Rankin as long as the whiskey lasts. I 
won’t work for no man in a hanted house without 
whiskey, for no wages ; it’s onnateral to ask it.” 

“ What do you think of this business, Barney? ” 
inquired Yost. 

“ I was never out of the city before, Mr. Yost,” 
he answered, “ and the country’s strange to me. 


I5S 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Fm scared, Fll acknowledge, and I don’t know 
what to think.” 

“ I suppose you never see a spirit in the city, 
did you?” inquired Sam. 

I never heard of one,” answered Barney. 
“ When I was a small boy, we used to play ghost 
sometimes.” 

Cause there ain’t no lonesome place there fur 
’em to harbor in, that’s why,” said Sam. “ I 
know their ways bettern most men. I knowed a 
ghost once when I was a boy that hanted a dark 
cave an’ never come out, night or day ; it jist 
laid low and moaned. Fve heerd it many a time. 
It was close by the road, an’ a peddler had been 
murdered an’ dragged in, an’ the coroner said 
the jury must set on him where he laid, an’ he 
musn’t be moved on no account. So the crowd 
went in with pine knots lit, an’ they hedn’t 
got more’n half done when they heerd a awful 
moan, back in the dark, an’ they lit out, the 
coroner a-leadin’, an’ a-tumblin’ over each other 
an’ puttin’ out the lights. So they made up the 
verdict outside, an’ no one could be got to bring 
out the body, an’ it’s a-layin’ in there in the dark 
this minute. And us boys used to sneak up as 
near as we darst, an’ hang ’round ’til one of us 
heerd it, an’ then we’d break down the hill like 
mad.” 

“ What did you run for, if it never came out?” 
said Yost. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


159 


‘‘ Why, we couldn’t tell but it might change its 
mind, you know, an’ take after us, specially as we 
was on’y boys, an’ catch the hindmost feller. I 
ginerally led off in them races, an’ ther was 
good time made there too. I’ve heerd of hounds 
a-goin’ into that cave on suspicion of game bein’ 
in there, an’ they always come out quickern they 
went in, an’ galloped straight home with their 
tails atween their legs a howlin’. An’ you couldn’t 
git ’em to hunt no more that day. I knowed an- 
other spirit once that lived in a deep holler, some- 
thin’ like Raccoon Holler, an’ he tuk after nigh 
onto every man as passed through late at night, 
but he never caught nobody. He had no speed 
to speak of — he couldn’t run wuth a cent. Most 
people, ’specially women, carried a light with ’em 
to skeer him off. I heerd of another ghost, a 
water-spirit this one was — ” 

No more stories to-night, Sam,” interrupted 
Yost, “ I am going to bed and the party, after a 
strong nightcap, retired to the dining-room and 
to rest. 

In the middle of the night they were awakened 
by a noise as of a wagon driving up to the 
porch. They raised up in their pallets, and looked 
about them. The doors that Yost had locked 
were open, and the hall began to fill with phos- 
phorescent light, and a figure glided by, with 
arms extended, and fingers spread feeling its way. 
Though but barely perceptible in the dim light, it 


l6o A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

seemed to Yost to resemble the deceased guest, 
and the likeness caused him to shudder. In a 
little time, it passed the second door, still grop- 
ing, until its right hand touched the stairway, 
which it began to ascend, stopped, and seemed to 
listen, then passed on out of view. The light in 
the hall suddenly disappeared, leaving it in dark- 
ness. Sam and Barney laid down in a state of 
collapse and covered their heads. Yost rose and 
groped his way to the kitchen and lit the candle. 
The others, emboldened by the light, left their 
pallets, and joined him in an assault on the jug. 
Yost sat down and filled his pipe. His compan- 
ions did likewise, Barney first stirring the fire. 
They scarcely uttered a word, but smoked and 
listened, their faces turned to the open door. 
After the lapse of half an hour, the fire having 
gone down, a faint light pervaded the hall, and it 
reassumed its phosphorescent appearance. The 
men felt the phantom was descending the stair- 
way. They saw it in a moment, moving toward 
the back door, groping with the right hand 
extended, the left hanging down grasping a bun- 
dle. Yost uttered an exclamation. The phantom 
stopped and seemed to listen ; the light played 
brightly on the bundle, then faded, and in a few 
seconds the hall was dark. 

After some minutes of profound silence, Yost 
helped himself to water from the bucket,the others 
following his example. Their throats were too 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, l6l 

dry for utterance. Whiskey soon followed, and 
their pipes were lit, and a low and subdued con- 
versation begun. 

rd lock the doors agin, ef I was you, Mr. 
Yost,” said Sam in a hoarse whisper. Barney 
seconded the motion ; and Yost, who felt he was 
the only one capable of accomplishing the feat, 
got up and complied with the suggestion. 

“ Gentlemen,” said Barney, whose real estate 
and legal training had given him a practical turn, 
“ you all saw the bundle ? ” 

“I didn’t see nothin’ else,” replied Sam. “I see 
it now, a-glistenin’ in the dark all alone with 
the hand and wrist, the fingers a-grippin’ of 
it.” 

“Did it look like him, Mr. Yost?” inquired 
Barney. 

“Yes,” answered Yost, “ it was him.” 

“If you had only a-follered him, Mr. Yost,” 
said Sam, “’stead of speakin’and a-scarin’ of him. 
He was a-goin’ straight to the place where he 
hid it.” 

“ I know he was,” said Yost. “Why didn’t you 
follow him, Sam ? ” 

“What, mef answered Sam. “ How could I, 
when you skeered him back, Mr. Yost? Besides, 
it wasn’t my place. I know my place as well as 
anymangoin’. And that spirit’s got a spite agin 
me. Ef he’d a turned round an’ ketched me a 
follerin’ of him an’ a-spyin’ on him, where’d I a 


i 62 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


been ? In kingdom come in less then no time ; 
that’s where I’d a been.” 

“What’s he got a spite against you for?” in- 
quired Barney. 

“Because,” answered Sam, “he wants all the 
hills around to hisself at night, an’ I crossed him a 
huntin’ coon. The fust time I ever see him, he 
come a-slippin’ in atween me and my dogs, an’ 
they hevn’t been wuth a cuss since. Ghosts hate 
a coon hunter, an’ dog him every chance they 
git. See how they sheered Si Hunter when he 
knocked at this very back hall door. Si hasn’t 
been out after coon since, nor I doubt ef he ever 
will go out agin. Si ’ll never be the same man he 
was ; they nigh onto sheered the soul out of his 
body. Ef Si hed a-seen what we seen to-night, 
he’d a-gone up. His body would a been a lyin’ 
on that floor now, dead as a mackerel. I’m glad 
Si wasn’t here. He’s got a poor mother to sup- 
port, Si hez, an’ I’m glad he Avasn’t here.” 

“You were badly frightened yourself, Sam,” 
said Barney. “ I thought one time I happened to 
look at you your lower jaw would have dropped 
off.” 

“ Me ? My lower jaw, ]\Ir. Barney ? Why, I 
wasn’t sheered overly much — not oncommon. I 
was sheered a little, to be sure. So was you. So 
was Mr. Yost. My mouth always would open 
when I was took aback ; but that’s nothin’ to 
speak of a man’s jaw droppin’ olT. My hair riz a 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


163 

little, but nothin’ to what it did when I fust see 
this spirit. Fm gittin’ used to ’em. It didn’t rise 
nothin’ to what Si Hunter’s did. Si Hunter was 
the wust skeered man out of jail. It’s well for 
Si he wasn’t here to-night.” 

“What do you think he was going out for?” 
inquired Barney. 

“Why,” said Sam, “he was a-goin’ out to make 
believe to hide a bundle. That was a sperit 
bundle he hed in his hand, ’twasn’t a live bundle. 
Ef Mr. Yost hedn’t a spoke, he’d a opened the 
door an’ gone to the spot he hid the real bundle 
when he was alive, an’ made believe he was a 
hidin’ of it agin, an’ then gone back to his room 
an’ gone to bed. I wouldn’t like to be a-sleepin’ 
in his bed to-night along with Mr. Rankin. The 
sperit was a-dreamin’ it all ; he wasn’t awake. 
When he’s awake, he’s everlastin’ly a-huntin’ that 
bundle, and when he’s asleep he’s everlastin’ly 
a-makin’ believe to hide it. He disremembers when 
he’s awake what he’s been a-doin’ of in his 
sleep.” 

“ I think,” said Yost, “we ought to go up-stairs 
and look after Mr. Rankin. I feel uneasy about 
him.” 

“ He’s likely strangled in his bed a-ready,” 
answered Sam, “ and it’s not wuth while disturbin’ 
of him.” 

“ Well,” said Yost, “ Barney and I will go up if 
you are afraid,” and he got up from his chair and 


164 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


reached for the candle. But Sam was too quick 
for him, and had it in his grasp in a second. 

I’ll go, Mr. Yost,” he said ; “ I’m not afeard ; 
I’ll carry the light.” 

“ You will have to take the lead, if you carry 
the light,” said Yost. 

“I’ll take the lead, Mr. Yost,” he answered, 
“ ef you foller close behind me. I’m not in the 
least afeard to take the lead.” 

They accordingly unlocked the kitchen door 
leading into the hall ; and Sam, holding the can- 
dle out at arm’s length in front of his face, where 
it prevented his seeing any thing, peered into the 
darkness with an anxious countenance. Followed 
closely by his companions, he advanced with halt- 
ing steps to the foot of the stairway, and began 
the ascent. When half way up, the feeling that 
he was leading a forlorn hope overpowered him, 
and he turned to beat a retreat. But the way was 
blocked by his followers, and Yost told him stern- 
ly to go on. Thus cut off from a retrograde 
movement and impelled forward, he continued to 
advance slowly and with frequent halts. When 
he reached the open doorway leading to the front 
porch, he felt that the crisis was close at hand ; 
and moving cautiously on tiptoe he stepped out, 
and turned up toward the awful chamber. In his 
agitation, he held the candlestick tipped over, 
and the grease dripped to the floor, marking his 
course, as he slowly approached what he believed 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 165 

to be his doom. When he reached the window, 
the curtain of which was down, he noticed the 
door, a pace or two beyond, was standing open. 
In his surprise at this he halted, and, as he did so, 
the report of a pistol rang on the air, the flat- 
bottomed candlestick was hurled from his hand 
through the breach in the railing of the porch, 
and fell with a dull thud into the water-trough 
beneath, the light going out with a hiss; and the 
three men turned and fled. 


CHAPTER XII. 


THE SON OF OLD GILES WAKES UP. 

T he day after Decker of Giles received the 
money for his share in the great inheritance, 
he rode to town and remitted Madison five thou- 
sand dollars. He began negotiations for the pur- 
chase of the alienated lands, and, piece by piece, 
bought them up ; and he gave his farmer son 
money with which, on his own account, to pur- 
chase the Johnson farm, that came cranking in 
and marring the fair outline of the old estate. 
The ladies were made happy improving the house 
and grounds, and with promised yearly visits to 
the springs of Greenbriar in summer, and the 
town in winter. They fought hard for a town 
house, but compromised on the best rooms in the 
best hotel, the duration of their stay to be at 
their discretion. He sent his son to the moun- 
tains, to sound Lord Lovat on the acceptance of 
a sum of money. The old man told him the skins 
that he brought down, from time to time, to the 
Court House furnished him with all he needed; 
and he wouldn’t soil his fingers with a dollar. 
That he hated the sight and very name of money. 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


167 


The little gentleman who never ceased to brag of 
having been the first to see Madison ride up on 
the spotted horse, and who took immense credit 
to himself for that discovery, received his prom- 
ised presents of a gun and pony ; and the Deck- 
ers of Giles were restored to their ancient grand- 
eur and pre-eminence in the county. 

When Madison received the remittance from 
his father, he felt rich ; and he resolved at once to 
propose for the hand of Della Decker. On the 
following morning he drove over, and, inviting the 
young lady to a walk by the little lake, he in- 
formed her of his good fortune, and laid it at her 
feet. The lady was willing ; and, returning to the 
house, they separated ; and Madison entered the 
library, and disclosed his suit to the old gentle- 
man. 

“You know, Madison,” he said, “that the 
Bank of Amsterdam has taken an appeal. I am 
distressed at the delay this will cause in realizing 
on my heavy investment in the Decker estate. 
I will be cramped for means to carry on my ordi- 
nary expenses, and am beginning even to fear 
that the suit may be continued into the next 
generation. Mr. Pilot, I think, is becoming dis- 
couraged also. His letters are brief and unsatis- 
factory, and have become quite infrequent. In 
short, he doesn’t answer my letters any longer. 
He owes me several now ; and in my Hst, written 
ten days since, I urged my anxiety and an im- 


i68 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


mediate reply. All these things have created in 
me a self-distrust. I want some one to lean on. 
I want my daughter settled in life. I know no 
one but you to whom I would feel safe in resign- 
ing her. I shall ask her to fix an early day for 
the wedding ; and I shall ask you to come up to- 
morrow and take charge of my papers and affairs. 
It will be an immense relief to me to shift the 
burden to your young shoulders.” 

“ I will move up to-morrow,” answered Madison. 

I don’t pretend to know much about business, 
but I am not afraid to take hold and do the best 
I can. I’ve attended trials at Giles Court House, 
and picked up a good deal ; besides. I’m a good 
hunter and a patient one ; and old Lord Lovat 
once told me that a good hunter would carry his 
patience and perseverance into whatever he 
wished to go at, and succeed in it ; and the old 
man knows as much of life as any one.” 

“ Where did you meet Lord Lovat ? ” inquired 
Mr. Decker. 

“ In the mountains of Giles,” answered Madi- 
son. “ He is a hunter, and a good one, none 
better, and lives alone in a cabin that he calls his 
castle, buried in the wilderness miles from any 
habitation. When he heard my father was expect- 
ing a fortune and was spending it in advance, he 
paid him a visit, and they went down to the river 
to fish, and the ladies told me that he came back 
to the house and mounted his pony, and rode off 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


169 


without saying good-by, and from that day my 
father retrenched expenses to such an extent that 
the family became alarmed for his reason.” 

“ What took place between him and your father 
on the river ? ” inquired Decker. 

“ My father never said, but he intimated to me 
when I was down that the old man had spent his 
best days in hunting a castle in the air, and from 
words dropped by him when we were out on the 
mountains together I suspect his father sank a 
fortune in the same pursuit. I believe they were 
after the Lovat estate in the Scotch Highlands.’ 

I would like to see the old man very much,” 
said Decker, after a pause. “ Give me his address ; 
ril write to him.” 

The next day Madison settled with Mr. Bron- 
son and moved to Rosedow. He soon mastered 
the Decker estate case, and became convinced 
Decker had been plundered. The consul at 
Amsterdam, departing from his custom of throw- 
ing fortune-hunting letters into the waste-basket 
unanswered, finding his name and seal were 
represented by Madison as having been used, 
replied to him stating that the name and seal had 
been forged and that the Decker claim was base- 
less, that no such advocate as Van Velsen lived 
in the Butter Market, or elsewhere in the city, and 
finally that he had sent a note to the bank and 
was informed that they knew of no such case, 
and had no deposit, great or small, and never had 


170 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


had any belonging to American heirs. This letter 
opened the eyes of Decker, and he saw the trap 
into which he had fallen. He proposed the 
immediate arrest of Pilot and Rush. 

“ Let me first get your money back,” suggested 
Madison, and then, if you wish to jail them, we 
can do it as well as now.” 

“ Do you think you can recover any of it, 
Madie ? ” asked Decker, brightening up. “ But 
I fear they are too cunning,” he added, his coun- 
tenance again falling ; they are city rogues, and 
you a country boy. It is gone. They will keep 
it where no process of law can ever reach a dollar 
of it. No, it is their money now, not mine.” 

“ I have measured myself with Pilot,” answered 
Madison, and can beat him at any game we play 
at. If I can get him to sit down to the table 
once, he’s gone. The other man I don’t know, 
but I will study him and beat him if I can. I 
was raised a hunter, Mr. Decker, and Lord Lovat 
said there was not a better in the mountains of 
old Giles ; and I’ll find that money, mark my 
words. I’ll find it ; at least, half of it, and bring 
it back to Rosedow where it belongs. I’ll try for 
the whole with interest from the day they robbed 
you of it, and get it too, if I’m not much mistaken 
in my guess.” 

“ Madie,” said the old man, shaking him by the 
hand, “ you put new life in me. What a thing it 
is to be young ! What do you intend to do first ? ” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. I? I 

“ Why, to tell the truth,” answered Madison, 
“ I will begin with deception. I will circumvent 
them as I would a brace of mountain wolves, 
until I get near enough to get a shot.” 

“Will you employ counsel, Madie ? ” inquired 
the old man. 

“ Far from it,” he answered. “ I’ll make a 
still hunt all alone. I don’t want a partner to 
step on a dry stick and stampede the game. 
Give me a still hunt, Mr. Decker, every time, 
when the game’s shy. I’ll bring them down, don’t 
you fear — Pilot sure, and the other man too if he 
hasn’t an eye in the back of his head. Don’t 
write Pilot any more. Keep the engagement a 
secret, and give me plenty of time, and keep your 
courage up. Above all things, don’t write to me 
to the care of Pilot, or to my boarding-house ; if 
you write, address to the post ; better far not to 
write at all. I’ll drop you a line now and then 
maybe, and maybe not. If I get hot on the trail, 
it would distract me, and you may not hear from 
me until the hunt is over and the game brought 
down. I’ll show those fellows that all the craft 
isn’t confined to the cities.” 

Several days after this conversation, Madison 
walked into No. lo Fish Street, and shook Mr. 
Pilot warmly by the hand. Pilot responded with 
a fair show of welcome, but a feeling of uneasiness. 
An emissary, he thought, from Rosedow. 

“ Take a chair, Mr, Decker,” hq said. “ I am 


172 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


glad to see you in the city. How are the folks 
at Rosedow? ” 

‘‘Very well/’ answered Madison, “ when I saw 
them last. And how have you been ? ” 

“ Quite well,” said Pilot, “ but not as busy as I 
would like to be. We are in the dull season now. 
When did you arrive in town?” 

“ I got in last night,” answered Madison, “ and 
am on the search for a boarding-house, and have 
dropped in on you for advice.” 

“ I hardly know where to recommend,” said 
Pilot. “ How long are you going to stay?” 

“ All my life,” answered Madison, “ if I can 
strike root and get a start in business. My 
father doesn’t relish one of his sons working as 
superintendent on a farm ; it sounds too much 
like overseer in the old slave times. He doesn’t 
think it’s fit employment for a gentleman ; so he 
sent me a good slice of the money he got for his 
inheritance, and ordered me down here to make 
my fortune. He thinks I’ll make an Astor in 
time, and who knows? Maybe I will. At any 
rate, I’ll try.” 

“ What do you think of going into ? ” inquired 
Pilot. 

“ Real estate,” answered Madison. “ Buy cheap 
out lots and sell them at an advance as the street 
extends. My father says Astor made most of his 
money that way. Do you know any thing about 
the business ? ” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


173 


“ Why, yes,” answered Pilot, in a meditative 
way, “ I ought to. I was brought up to it, and 
nearly all my law business now is connected with 
real estate.” 

“ Good,” said Madison, “ Vm glad to hear it. 
I know nothing about it, as yet, myself, but I 
have an uncle who invested in Lynchburg town in 
that way, and he made money enough to buy a big 
plantation. That was before the war, when the 
railroad was coming out West. But he invested 
too heavy in darkies and the war smashed him. 
Fve got considerable money, but I don’t intend 
to invest it in the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I want 
to settle down in a respectable, cheap boarding- 
house, and look about me. No five-dollar-a-day 
hotel bills forme, if you please. In the best ho- 
tel at Giles Court House, they charge a dollar a 
day, and people grumble at that.” 

“ How does Mr. Decker take the postponement 
of the Amsterdam settlement, to change the sub- 
ject.^” inquired Pilot. 

“The last time I called there,” said Madison, 
“ something was said about an appeal, but the old 
gentleman said the decision was final, and the ap- 
peal was taken to keep the« heirs out of their 
money awhile, until the bank could get ready. 
He said it was annoying, but in a few months the 
appeal would be set aside and the money paid.” 

“You haven’t been over lately to Rosedow? ” 
asked Pilot, 


174 


A CASTLE I/Y THE AIR. 


“ Well, Mr. Pilot, now that it is all over, I don’t 
mind saying to you that I have stopped calling 
there. My cousin and I couldn’t hit it off ex- 
actly, and things came to a crisis a short time ago, 
and I retired. I suppose my nose turns up too 
much to suit ; at any rate, it’s all over. The 
track’s clear up there now if anybody wants to 
go in and win. How are you off for society down 
here ? I suppose it’s not easy for a stranger to 
get in.” 

“Well, no,” answered Pilot, “it’s rather diffi- 
cult ; strangers make acquaintances, at first, at 
their boarding-houses, and often meet very nice 
people there. Speaking of boarding-houses. I’ll 
take you down, if you like, to mine, and introduce 
you. It is highly respectable, and at the same 
time inexpensive. I would prefer hotel life, but 
my landlady is a distant connection, and I can’t 
very well leave her. Put on your hat and come 
down.” 

That afternoon, Madison was installed as a 
lodger and boarder at 501 Fish Street, and kept 
the table in a roar of laughter, at tea, over a de- 
scription of a colored camp-meeting, and the con- 
versations that occurred at it. Hollanda enjoyed 
the fun, and laughed as she had not done since 
long before she left the Red Lion. The servant 
was captivated and the guests charmed with the 
acquisition. Madison had effected a lodgment 
in the enemy’s outworks and quieted suspicion, 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


175 


excited an interest in himself and his fortunes 
in the mind of Pilot, and dropped to sleep that 
first night of his campaign, felicitating himself 
that Old Giles was more than a match for the 
city. 

“ Mr. Pilot,” said he, the next morning as they 
sat in the office smoking, “which is the safest 
bank to deposit in ? My draft is on the ^ Life and 
Trust do you know anything about it ? ” 

“ Not especially,” answered Pilot, “but I sup- 
pose it’s as safe as any. Of course, if a crash 
should come, none of them will be over-safe.” 

“My father,” said Madison, “writes me to be 
careful what bank I deposit in. He says maybe 
it would be best to keep my money in government 
bonds, and sell them as I invest, and need the 
money. What do you think of that?” 

“There’s risk in that, too,” answered Pilot, “ for 
they may be stolen. If you keep them in a bank, 
the president or cashier may carry them off to 
Canada, and if you keep them in your trunk the 
servants may take them while you are out. Some 
men carry them sewed up in their underclothes, 
out of the reach of pickpockets. Bonds are thin 
and make a small bulk. They are high now — 
way above par, but as they will be high when you 
sell that will make no difference.” 

“That’s what I’ll do,” said Madison. “ I’ll sew 
them up. I can’t afford to take any risk. Pll 
buy bonds and sew them up. Father will be 


1^6 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


pleased with that idea, I know. I suppose you 
just make a pocket in your flannel shirt with a 
piece of muslin ? ” 

‘‘You can buy flannels with pockets in them,” 
said Pilot. 

“ I suppose they must feel uncomfortable,” 
said Madison, “ rubbing against a fellow’s breast, 
especially at first.” 

“ Oh, I don’t know. Bonds are thin ; you don’t 
feel them.” 

“ I’d be considered a rich man,” said Madison, 
“ down in Old Giles, with what I’ve got already. 
The girls would be setting their caps for me. 
They think my father has no end of money. 
But the old gentleman’s getting a little sore over 
his sale. The money came in mighty handy to 
him, but he’s beginning to think maybe he’s paid 
too high for it. He says in his letter that he 
sometimes feels like the dog that snapped at the 
shadow and dropped the meat ; and if he could 
pick up a small interest low he didn’t know but 
he would hedge.” 

“ I think an interest could be had,” said Pilot. 
“The appeal, though as Mr. Decker says it can 
only result in a brief delay, has made some 
holders impatient and anxious to realize. How 
much is your father willing to invest ? ” 

“ I don’t know. He said nothing more than 
what I have told you. I don’t think the old 
gentleman would go in deep. I think five thou- 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


177 


sand would be his limit ; and maybe he wouldn’t 
go even that high.” 

“ Well,” said Pilot, “ you may tell him when 
you write, if you please, that I’ll try and look up 
a small interest for him if he really wants to buy; 
but that it will be hard to touch anything under 
five thousand.” 

“ I’ll write after I get a little settled,” said 
Madison, ‘‘and mention the matter. He’ll want 
to know what your fee will be, though, before he 
does any thing.” 

“ Tell him,” said Pilot, “ we get our fees out of 
the other party ; it will not cost him a cent. It’s 
the seller that pays the fee in real estate trans- 
actions, not the buyer.” 

“ That will please the old gentleman mightily,” 
said Madison, “ for, if there is a thing he hates, it 
is paying a fee.” 

Madison passed the evening in the little parlor 
in conversation with Mrs. Yost. He had invited 
her in to discuss some arrangement concerning 
his room and held her attention by his pleasant 
manners and jokes until bedtime. She was so 
pleased and at ease with him that she was unusu- 
ally communicative, and talked without reserve. 

“ Mr. Pilot tells me he is a relative of yours,” 
said Madison. “Did you come from the same 
place ? ” 

“ I was raised,” she answered, “ five miles from 
his native town, Benvelt, on the road to Phila- 


73 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


delphia. He is a distant relative. My father and 
my grandfather before him kept the Old Red 
Lion Tavern. It was a famous place in old 
times." 

“ Then you are from the country as well as my- 
self. I wonder you came to the city. If I had a 
place in the country I would live there ; I like it 
best." 

There was no longer any travel," she an- 
swered, “ and besides it is said to be haunted ; 
and I expect it is." 

“ I wish you would tell me all about it," said 
Madison. “ I love ghost stories." 

“ Well," she answered, a traveler put up one 
night, and fell from the porch in the dark and 
was killed. He was seen to walk afterwards by a 
dozen persons ; and I certainly heard him my- 
self several times, though I never saw him. It 
came out on the inquest that he had hidden a 
bundle of banknotes or bonds, but they were not 
found ; and the man’s relatives never turned up, 
though they published for them. My husband is 
down there now, trying to rent the place, and I 
suspect Mr. Rush and Barney, Mr. Pilot’s clerk, 
are with him, hunting for the bundle, though 
Pilot doesn’t know it if they are. I suspect them, 
from their all leaving on the same day, and a 
thing or two I noticed. As Rinemond, the man 
who fell from the porch, left no one to claim his 
money, they will keep it if they find it, but Alva, 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 179 

my husband, shan’t take a dollar of it. I’ll see to 
that.” 

But, if there are no heirs, why not ? ” 

“ Not a dollar,” she repeated. “ He was our 
last guest, and met his death through our neglect 
to have the railing of the porch mended, and 
Alva shan’t have any of the money, if they find 
it. It would not be decent or right ; and we have 
enough without it.” 

“ I’ll bet I can find the bundle,” said Madison. 
“ City men can never find anything ; it takes a 
hunter. Why, my goodness ! No man can hide 
a thing that I can’t find. If I went down there. 
I’d find it in short order, especially if I knew the 
circumstances.” 

What would you do with it, if you found it ?” 

“ I would publish for heirs and do all I could to 
find them,” he answered ; and if there were 
none I’d keep it. It is no use letting it rot in a 
hole. Besides, I think, Mrs. Yost, you are bound 
to find it if you can, and try to hunt up his heirs 
and restore it to them — less your expenses, of 
course.” 

Well, Mr. Decker,” she said, after a pause, “ it 
never struck me that way before, but I believe 
you are right ; and as you are a relative of mine, 
and I think you are an honest gentleman, I will 
tell you all about it, and you may go and look it 
up if you like. You think you can find it? ” 

I know I can,” said Madison, if you show me 


i8o 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


the room he occupied and tell me as near as you 
can what movement he made. Fll find it as sure 
as Fm sitting in this chair.” 

Hollanda was quite aroused by his enthusiasm 
and the grave responsibility that had just dawned 
upon her; and, after some thought, she said : 

“ Mr. Decker, after Alva has been back awhile, 
supposing they don’t find it, I will go down to 
Baker Station in an early morning train and 
come back at night. I will walk straight out to 
the Red Lion when I leave the cars, and you 
can follow and keep me in sight. I think I see 
now why the spirit of Rinemond walks. If the 
bundle is found and taken away, his ghost will 
stop haunting the Old Red Lion.” 


CHAPTER XIII. 


THE PHANTOM HOLDS THE INN. 

W HEN Rush rose from his seat before the 
fire and went to bed the room was warm ; 
and, being fatigued by the unaccustomed labor of 
the day, he soon fell into a profound sleep. From 
this he was awakened some time in the night by 
a groan which seemed to his half-aroused senses 
to come from under the bed. He rose into a sit- 
ting posture and listened intently. The fire was 
out, and the door open, and the cold air pouring 
in from the porch. Hearing nothing further, he 
got out of bed, lit a candle, and, taking his cocked 
pistol in his right hand, raised the bedcovers with 
his left and looked under. He examined the closets 
and looked out on the porch, looked up and down, 
and over the railing on the area beneath. All was 
quiet, and the silence unbroken save by the gen- 
tle creaking of the old lion as he slowly swung 
to and fro on his solitary hinge. A temporary 
spout had been fitted to the pump by Yost, 
and Barney instructed to water Dandy ; but, not 
knowing his capacity for holding liquids, he had 


i 82 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


pumped until the old trough had overflowed. 
The light of the candle glanced from its surface 
and set Rush to thinking of the fall of Rinemond, 
and of the chance of his having so fallen as to 
light in the trough lengthwise, and become sub- 
merged ; and to speculating whether he was 
killed by the fall, or stunned and drowned. The 
night was somber, the sky overcast, and the near 
horizon of cypress and pine shutting in the view 
rendered the sight of it oppressive. He turned 
to re-enter his room, when he perceived a light is- 
suing from the hall door. He placed his can- 
dle on the floor, and cautiously approached, 
and looked in. He saw a figure, moving slowly 
at the further end, turn into a side pas- 
sage. He followed with as little noise as possi- 
ble, now catching a glimpse of it, as it disap- 
peared in one of the involved and winding narrow 
halls, and now seeing it glimmer for a moment in 
advance. At length, when he thought he had lost 
the track and was groping in the dark, he came 
to a gallery, at the further end of which he saw it 
pausing at the bottom of a staircase, with one 
foot on the first step, half turned about and look- 
ing toward him. It carried no light, but seemed 
self-illuminating, surrounded by an effusion of 
phosphorescence. Though the outline was vague. 
Rush thought he caught a resemblance to Rine- 
mond, and, as the figure turned and glided up the 
narrow stairway, he slipped off his shoes and ran 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


183 


rapidly down the gallery and up the stairs in pur- 
suit. When he reached the landing he was just 
in time to see it enter a door that closed behind 
it, facing him, at the end of a hall. On reaching 
the room he lifted the latch and pushed, but the 
door stood firm. Its upper half was glazed to 
admit light and a faded curtain hung over it. A 
faint light from within shone through a hole in 
this covering ; and, shading his face with his 
hands, he stooped and looked through. The in- 
terior, dimly illuminated, was unlike any room he 
had ever seen. The walls, rough and uneven, 
seemed to be of stone, covered with a white- 
wash, mildewed and stained ; the floor was in a 
litter of dirt and trash ; and a pallet of ragged 
bedclothing occupied one corner. On a piece of 
brown canvas on the floor lay a slice of moldy 
cheese and a loaf of black bread. A little sallow- 
faced man squatted near, with an open pocket- 
knife in his hand, and opposite knelt a hungry- 
looking boy in a state of expectancy. Both were 
dressed in rags, and their faces partly turned to 
Rush, who muttered aloud : 

‘‘ The Rinemonds, father and son.” 

“ At once the light faded, and in a moment 
the room was dark. Rush, deeply moved, began 
his retreat. He felt his way along, bewildered in 
the tortuous passages, and was long finding his 
way to his room. He was chilled, and, after lock- 
ing the door, covered himself up in bed, and 


1 84 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

thought over his singular adventure. He was 
dazed ; but, after recalling a conversation with 
Yost that morning on Rinemond and his father’s 
early poverty, which might have been overheard, 
and given rise to the scene to frighten him off, he 
became somewhat reassured. He had nearly 
fallen asleep when the door swung open. He 
rose and grasped his pistol and listened. In a 
few moments he heard steps cautiously approach- 
ing, and saw the light on the porch floor, and 
then on the curtain of his window the shadow of 
a man with a candle, and, raising his pistol, he 
fired, and sprang from the bed. When he reached 
the porch, he heard the clatter of feet in the hall 
and down the stairway ; and stepping to the rail- 
ing watched to get a shot in case they emerged 
from the front door. Quiet settling down on the 
inn, and nothing appearing to draw his fire, he re- 
turned to his room, closed the door without troub- 
ling himself to lock it, and again went to bed. 
His skepticism had been shaken by the vision in 
the strange room, but was restored by the recalled 
conversation and his last encounter with persons 
that he knew were living men. Worn out with 
fatigue, he soon fell asleep. 

In the precipitate flight of the three men from 
the upper porch, Sam started at a disadvantage; 
but he kept close at the heels of his companions 
until they neared the bottom of the stairs, when 
he flung himself over the railing and took the 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 185 

lead, and was the first to enter the kitchen, thus 
maintaining the reputation he had earned in his 
earlier flights. They locked the door and gath- 
ered about the fire to recover breath. Yost 
presently lit a fresh candle and, selecting a stick 
from the pile of firewood, laid it on the table to 
be used as a bludgeon in case of need. Sam did 
likewise, but Barney, considering himself, in his 
character of city man, as excused from military 
duty, failed to follow their example, and took a 
chair in a helpless and bewildered state of mind. 
The jug was soon called on to restore lost cour- 
age and the ever-soothing pipe ; and a low' conver- 
sation set in once more. 

My hand’s that numb, gentlew^’?^,” said Sam, 
as he poured out a second drink and held up the 
tin of whiskey, “ that you may see it a-trimblin’ 
a-holdin’ this cup up. That sperit jarred me so 
when he knocked the candlestick out of my hand 
that I don’t believe I’ll ever git over it. This 
night’s used me up, that’s what this night’s done. 
I’m a used-up man.” He drank the whiskey, and 
in a few moments took up the jug and poured out 
again. “ I didn’t take a big enough swig that 
pour, gentle;;/^;^,” he added in an apologetic tone, 
“and I’ll jest take another to try and stop the 
trimbles.” 

The others, stimulated by his example, again 
sought consolation ; and Barney, as he resumed 
his seat, said ; 


i86 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ It seemed to me it was a pistol ball that 
knocked the candlestick out of your hand, Sam ; 
I didn’t see any sperit about.” 

“ It was a silver bullet, then,” said Sam, “ an’ 
didn’t come out of no real gun. Any one could 
tell that by the sound it made a-strikin’ of the 
candlestick.” 

“ It was fired from the room,” said Yost, “and 
I think Rush fired it.” 

“Who’s Rush?” inquired Sam. “It’s Mr. 
Rankin, you mean? Why, Mr. Yost, you must 
be badly skeered to misname a man that a-way. 
Mr. Rankin wouldn’t a fired at me when he’s 
hired me at two dollars a day and board. What 
fur? No — Mr. Rankin’s no more. I consider 
the sperit found him a-occupyin’ of his bed, an’ 
choked him to death, an’ then shot at me. 
He hates me wus than pizen, that sperit does ; 
an’ he’ll git me yit ; that’s my guess.” 

“ The candlestick seemed to fall into the water 
trough,” said Barney; “it sounded like it.” 

“Yes,” said Yost gloomily, “it did.” 

“An’ didn’t you hear the candle a-hissin’ when 
it struck the water?” said Sam. “It hissed 
vicious, like a mad snake. It minded me of a 
rattler that bit Si Hunter’s dog. We was a 
walkin’ along a path. Si behind, an’ his durned 
dog a-sneakin’ behind him unbeknownst to us. 
The other dogs was a-nosin’ along in front, an’ 
this cuss^^ animal had slunk round behind to 


J CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


87 


’scape work, an’ follered so close that he nearly 
teched Si’s legs, to keep from bein’ seen. Well, 
we heerd a owdacious rattle, an’ both jumped ; 
but the dog was too mean to jump, an’ the 
rattler struck him on the nose. Ef he’d a hed 
his nose in front a-snuffin’ for a coon track, it 
wouldn’t a ben bit. Ef Dandy was my boss, he 
shouldn’t drink no water out of that trough— not 
after to-night.” 

“ What’s the matter with the water ? ” said 
Yost. 

“ Nothin’s the matter with the water, Mr, Yost,” 
said Sam, “ but the trough’s pizen. No hoss of 
mine, ef I hed a hoss, should tech water out o’ it. 
It drown</(f^ a man, an’ it’s put out a light with 
a hiss, an’ it’s pizen. Mr. Rankin will hev a big 
bill to pay Miss Mirandy (that is pervidin he ain’t 
dead, which he is, in my opinion) ef he don’t look 
out where Dandy drinks. I wouldn’t let Dandy 
come nigh that trough. I’d water him out of a 
bucket, an’ I wouldn’t let the bucket tech the 
trough, nuther.” 

“ Sam was the worst scared of any coming 
down,” said Barney. “ So scared he had to jump 
over the stair rail.” 

“ I was in the most dangersome place,” said Sam, 
“ an’ I jumped cause I felt somethin’ a breathin’ 
on the back of my neck an’ a feelin’ fur my 
collar ; that’s why I jumped. I’m not a-goin’ to 
stay back an’ be ketched, fur nol^ody. It’s every 


i88 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


man forhisself when a sperit’s after him, specially 
with a pistol, an’ a-grabbin’ fur him. Mr. Barney’s 
a leetle put out cause he was beat into the kitchen, 
that’s what’s the matter with Mr. Barney.” 

“ Well,” said Yost, “we are all safe now, and I 
think I’ll take a drink, and try to get a little sleep. 
If it comes again, let it come. “ I’ll not get up 
again till morning. 

“ I’ll take a drink too, Mr. Yost,” said Sam, 
“an’ I’ll go to bed an’ kiver my head up ; an’ no 
ghost hed better feel around tryin’ to unkiver 
me, nuther. I’ve stood about as much as I’m 
goin’ to stand for one night. I’ll take this club 
into bed with me too, so I give notice.” With 
this they each took a strong nightcap and retired. 
No ghost of any description ventured to uncover 
Sam’s head in the night, or further disturbed his 
slumber or that of either of the other occupants 
of the haunted inn. Rush came down without 
the mark of cord or fingers about his throat, and 
all seemed to have passed through the terrors of 
the midnight without apparent injury ; but Dandy 
was gone with saddle and bridle. After mutual 
explanations, in which Rush suppressed all that 
had occurred above, save the shooting, which he 
said was a mistake, they went in a body to the 
water-trough, and fished out the candlestick, bat- 
tered by the pistol ball. No hunt was made for 
Dandy, Rush saying he would prosecute the 
scamps for horse-stealing, if they didn’t bring him 


A CASTLE nV THE AIR, 


189 


back, but after breakfast they searched the inn 
from garret to cellar, under his direction, but 
found no trace of anybody. Nor was Rush able 
to find the room with the glazed door, or his shoes, 
and was reduced to an old pair found in the garret. 
The cellar was padlocked, and showed no sign of 
having been disturbed since Yost had moved from 
the inn. It was dark, but every apartment, and 
there were several, was imperfectly examined by 
candle-light, except the old wine-cave, which had 
not been used for years, and whose ponderous 
lock resisted all efforts to open it. 

They now resumed their hunt for the bundle, 
and, approaching the smoke-house, Sam pushed in 
the door; but meeting with resistance, after it had 
opened a little way he introduced his head, and 
quickly drew it out again, exclaiming : 

Dandy, by gum ! with his tail shaved.” 

It was too true. He was presently led out, sad- 
dled and bridled, without a vestige of hair on his 
caudal extremity, looking dejected and careworn. 

The durned meanery of that sperit,” said Sam 
defiantly, “ beats all creation. Togo and shave 
off Dandy’s tail ! What’ll Miss Mirandy say ? ” 
I’ll put a piece of lead in one of those fellows,” 
said Rush, “ before I get through with them ; 
they are carrying the farce a little too far.” 

“ Miss Mirandy’ll charge purty high for this, 
Mr. Rankin,” said Sam. “ She’s high spirited, is 
Miss Mirandy, an’ she hates such nonsense, 


190 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


She’ll say Dandy is no use to her now till the hair 
grows out ; an’ ef you git off with four dollars, 
you’ll be doin’ well.” 

‘‘You mind your own business, Sam,” said 
Rush. “ I’ll settle with Mirandy. Barney, water 
the brute, and turn him out to grass.” 

“ In a bucket,” said Sam, in a stage whisper. 
“ Mind what I said last night about the trough.” 

“ Come,” said Rush, impatiently, “ let’s get to 
work.” 

The smoke-house was now thoroughly exam- 
ined, and they passed to the barn. When the 
afternoon was well advanced, they came out, and 
gave it up ; the bundle was not anywhere in that 
hiding-place of hiding-places ; and Rush began 
to despond. They found some curious old coin, 
hidden in past generations in several secret nooks 
by deceased hostlers and stable-boys long since 
matured and passed away, and an ancient silver 
watch, very large and very much the worse for 
its long confinement, and other odd bits, but 
nothing of value. 

Yost said, if the bundle was not buried in the 
yard between the back porch and the barn (and 
he didn’t believe it was) then, in his opinion, 
Rinemond had written the fragment to “ Dick” 
to deceive, and had disposed of the “ bundle ” 
before arriving at the Red Lion. This presenta- 
tion of the case shocked Rush ; and he took Yost 
aside to consult. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


191 

“ What on earth put that in your head ? ” said 
he. 

“ I felt all along,” answered Yost, “ that we would 
find it in the barn. When our search was nearly 
through there, you may remember, I sat down to 
rest awhile. I had despaired then, and thought the 
whole case over. I said to myself, if the bundle 
had been hidden on this place we would have found 
it already ; and, assuming that no one else has 
found it, it was not hidden here, but disposed of 
in some way (given to some one to keep, or hid- 
den) by Rinemond before he arrived that night 
at the Lion. Then I said, he must have lied in 
his letter to Dick. Yes, he lied. What for? To 
do Dick out of his share of the plunder. He tells 
him of the lonely inn, the ill-looking landlord 
alone in the house, his fears of a visit, his inten- 
tion to hide. This was to prepare Dick for a 
second letter, in which he would have told of hav- 
ing been unconsciously watched by some one — 
the ill-featured landlord, most probably — and on 
going to his hiding-place found the bundle gone. 
This is my belief ; he never brought the bundle 
to the Red Lion.” 

Rush sat confounded. He wondered that this 
view of the case had never occurred to him. He 
felt that he in Rinemond’s place would probably 
have acted in that precise manner. He felt hu- 
miliated and beaten. A spirit of vengeance 
awoke in him against the midnight intruders 


192 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


who were playing tricks on him. If he could 
cripple one of them, he could go away with some 
degree of satisfaction. 

“Yost,” he said, after a time, “you may be 
right. It is not improbable, though by no means 
certain. We have time to examine the yard be- 
fore dark. To-morrow will be Sunday, and the 
men will want rest, and we can think it over.” 

The yard was gone over, and in many places 
the soil slightly moved where it presented indica- 
tions of having been disturbed. Nothing was 
found, and the party retired to the house for sup- 
per and the night. Rush sat in the kitchen smok- 
ing and talking until bedtime. There was a feel- 
ing that the worst was over, and hopes were 
entertained that they might pass the night undis- 
turbed. The party became convivial, and remarks 
were made on the conduct of the spirit, especially 
in his relation to the denuded Dandy, that were 
defiant and far from complimentary. 

“ I think,” said Sam, “ that Dandy’s tail ought 
to be rubbed with coon grease twist a day till the 
hairs gits a good start. The idea, fur to go an’ 
treat a inercent pony that away ! I don’t keer 
who hears me,” he added, with rising indignation ; 
“it’s low down fur to cut off a pony’s tail in sum- 
mer time.” 

“ I’m going over to the Coon in the morning,” 
said Yost, “and I’ll tell Miss Mirandy about it. 
It will put her in a fine temper.” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


193 


“ rd like to go too,” said Sam. “ It’s Sunday, 
an’ a chicken-fight ; an’ we can’t work on Sun- 
day, Mr. Rankin ; it ain’t lawful, nor religious 
nuther. And Mr. Barney, it’s likely, never see a 
real chicken-fight in his life, bein’ raised in a city. 
He’d like it too.” 

“ You may all go, if you like,” said Rush. “ I’ll 
stay and keep house ; but be back early Monday 
morning. It may be our last day here, though 
we may stay the week out — I can’t say yet and 
with this he took up his candle and went up-stairs 
to bed. After some conversation on the glory 
and delight of chicken-fighting, the men below 
retired also ; and the haunted house settled down 
in darkness and quiet. A storm was gathering, 
and the dining-room was close, and Yost threw 
up a window opening on the front porch, to ad- 
mit the air. 

Some time after midnight, a crash of thunder 
that shook the old inn to its foundations awoke 
the three men, and they sat up in their beds. 
The doors leading into the hall were open, and 
they perceived it lighting up with phosphores- 
cence. The back hall door opened, and the 
phantom glided in, groping. When the outspread 
fingers touched the rail, they closed on it, and the 
phantom glided up, stopping, as on the former 
occasion, to listen, and renewed its upward 
movement with reluctance, as though impelled 
by a power it was unable to resist. A second 


194 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


clap of thunder, more violent than the first, shook 
the house, and the phantom passed out of 
view. 

This thunder awoke Rush. It was intensely 
dark, but he felt the air coming in, and arose and 
walked to the door. The rain was falling heavily. 
He looked out and saw the phantom approaching, 
with outstretched arms, veering toward the break 
in the railing. It seemed to slip on the wet edge 
of the porch as it reached the gap, partly recovered, 
and fell backward, throwing out its arms. Then 
a vivid flash of lightning blinded Rush, and in a 
moment he heard a plunge in the water below. 

The men in the lower room heard through the 
open window the plunge, and got up. Yost 
started for the bar-room, but, recollecting himself, 
turned to the kitchen and lit a candle. As he 
crossed the hall, he met Rush coming down. 
They entered the bar, and Yost took down the 
lantern from the same peg he had taken it on the 
former stormy night when he visited the water- 
trough in haste. They all went out, and, by the 
light of the lantern, saw the trough half empty, 
the surface still agitated, and rills of water running 
away in all directions. 

They silently returned to the kitchen, built up 
a fire, refreshed themselves from the jug, lit their 
pipes, and quietly discussed the events of the 
night. Rush make light of the occurrence. He 
said the scamps played their parts so skillfully, 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


195 


they must have had an adept from the city to 
direct them. It was really first-class work. 

“ I will not sleep another night in the Red 
Lion,” replied Yost, gloomily. 

“ I’ve been a-thinkin’? ” said Sam, “what Mr. 
Slugger said to me when Miss Mirandy told me 
to come here. “ Sam,’ said he to me, ‘ don’t go. 
What’s money? ” 

“ I will not ask any of you to spend the night 
here again,” said Rush. “ I can keep house alone, 
very well.” 

“ Not that I’m afeard to stay, Mr. Rankin,” 
said Sam, but I don’t like a-losin’ of my natural 
rest, and not every feller kin stand what I kin, 
nuther. Why, I’ve hunted coon night runnin’ 
fur nigh onto a week. But it’s different huntin’ 
^nd a-bein’ hunted, or hanted, one might say, 
which is wuss. No gentle;;^^;^,” he added, “ if 
Mr. Rankin will give me one dollar a day and 
board and whiskey. I’ll give up the other dollar, 
and sleep at the Coon.” 


CHAPTER XIV. 


MERRIMENT AT THE COON AND DESPAIR AT 
THE LION. 

A fter an early breakfast on the following 
morning, the three men, leaving Rush to 
dispute possession of the haunted tavern with the 
phantom, took the pathway over the hills to the 
Coon. The day was bright, and the assembly 
large, and the interest divided between the chicken- 
fight and the heroes fresh from the field of ghostly 
combat. All day long groups were gathered 
about Yost and Sam, asking all manner of questions 
and probing for details. Sam had never known a 
day of such high honor. He was, by general con- 
sent, placed at the head of the class as a discerner 
of spirits, and the special malevolence displayed 
toward him by the phantom of the Red Lion 
won him pronounced respect. It was the general 
opinion that no spirit would ever get away with 
Sam,” but he modestly dissented from this, and 
expressed the fear that some dark night in the 
hills they’d take him unawares, and “git him 
yit.” He was an object of mysterious interest, 
and enjoyed his dangerous elevation as a mark 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


197 


for ghostly malice to the top of his bent. Slugger 
was immersed in mundane matters, but he joined 
in the discussions that took place before the bar, 
and was firm in the belief that Sam’s days were 
numbered. He might be given twelve months 
(they often gave twelve months, seldom more, to 
one especially obnoxious), but Sam was a doomed 
man. When he allowed money to outweigh the 
advice of friends he, in effect, sold himself and 
gave the spirits power over him ; and when they 
wanted him, they would call for him and get him 
too. 

Mirandy, though she had very little time to 
devote to the subject on that busy day, expressed 
high displeasure at the slight put upon Dandy. 

“Whoever did it,” she said, “spirit or no 
spirit, had better keep out of my way. I’ll make 
’em wish they had never seen Dandy, much less 
chopped off his tail.” 

“ They didn’t chop it off. Miss Mirandy,” inter- 
posed Sam ; “they on’y shaved it off.” 

“Well,” resumed she, “it’s the same thing; 
chopped or shaved, his tail ’s gone.” 

“ Mr. Rankin said, Miss Mirandy, when they 
led Dandy out of the smoke-house, that he’d settle 
with you fur the tail.” 

“ I’ll settle with him, you’d better say,” she 
replied. “ Wait till I catch him over here.” 

“ Why, he couldn’t help it,” said Sam. “ The 
sperit done it in the night when we was asleep.” 


A CASTLE IN THE A IE. 


198 

“ Don’t talk to me of spirits,” she answered. 
“ I’ll make Mr. Rankin pay well for that piece of 
work. I’ll make him buy the pony, that’s what 
I’ll do. I don’t want a horse without a tail, any 
more than without a head. He can’t keep the 
flies off and they’ll bite him to death. I won’t 
take Dandy back nohow. What do you think 
Dandy’s worth, Sam, at the least calculation ? ” 

“Well,” answered he, “of course, you mean, 
with his tail growed out.” 

“ Of course,” she answered with indignation. 
“ I’m not going to let Rankin dock me on account 
of his tail. A pretty thing indeed.” 

“ Well,” said Sam, soothingly, “ Dandy’s well 
wo’th, tail an’ all, twenty dollars. He wouldn’t 
bring it though, mind you, where he’s knowed, by 
reason of his dealin’s with the sperits.” 

“ If you dar insinuate that Dandy’s got a spell 
on him agin, Sam, I’ll hit you with this rollin’ 
pin.” 

“ Well, well,” answered Sam, in some alarm, 
“ I’ll swear Dandy ain’t hurt a bit by what he’s 
gone through, an’ Mr. Rankin must pay for the 
tail an’ all, of course ; it would be ridiclous to 
think otherwise. He’ll do what’s right. Miss 
Mirandy, don’t fear him.” 

“ I don’t fear no man,” answered she, “ and 
I’ll have my rights. You tell Mr. Rankin to send 
me over twenty dollars and keep Dandy.” 

“ I really think,” said Sam, in a deprecatory 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 199 

tone, “ you might let Mr. Rankin off with 
less.” 

“I won’t,” she answered; “you said he was 
worth twenty, and I’ll have twenty, not a cent 
less.” 

“ But you see. Miss Mirandy,” he said in his 
softest accents, “ there’s two prices to a boss, a 
askin’ price an’ a takin’ price; an’ twenty dol- 
lars is Dandy’s askin’ price.” 

“ And what’s his takin’ price ? ” she asked. 

“ Why, Miss Mirandy,” answered Sam slowly, 
“ I don’t w'ant to give you no offense, an’ Mr. 
Rankin will pay whatsomever you ask, an’ you 
hedn’t oughter put it higher’n the boss is really 
wuth. You don’t want to take no onjust money 
out of Mr. Rankin, I know you don’t. The takin’ 
price fur Dandy, if you’ll excuse me. Miss Miran- 
dy, is fifteen ; honest now, it is.” 

“ Well,” she answered, after a minute’s pause, 
“ tell him to send over fifteen dollars, all in silver, 
and to take good care of Dandy and treat him 
well ”; and with this, she went off briskly to her 
work. 

This transaction elevated Sam so highly in his 
own esteem that he went into the yard and bet 
half a dollar on a chicken then engaged in deadly 
combat, the largest single bet he had ever made 
— and lost. As the sun got low, the guests at 
the Coon began to take their departure ; the 
aristocrats on Sandhill ponies and the plebeians 


200 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


on foot. The excitement caused by the accounts 
fresh from the Red Lion of the startling “ goings 
on there ” not only stimulated the sale of liquor 
at the bar throughout the day, but infused a reck- 
less spirit into the company, and caused the bet- 
ting on the chicken-fights to reach a fearful 
height. Quarters were put up by lads who had 
never ventured beyond ten cents before, and men 
who had long deliberated on a quarter stake now 
freely laid down their halves with imprecations. 
Hunters, flushed with the proceeds of a late sale 
of coon skins, were seen to risk a dollar on a sin- 
gle chicken, and swore loudly and became tur- 
bulent when they lost. Winners strutted about 
with their hats cocked up, flown with insolence ; 
and many quarrels occurred and several fights 
between them and their sore and bankrupt oppo- 
nents. Yost himself supposed, since he had 
become a dweller in cities, to be a reformed 
chicken-fighter, found it necessary to knock down 
an impecunious coon-hunter whom he had re- 
duced to poverty, and who bewailed his condi- 
tion too loudly. Fortune had favored him that 
Sunday, and Barney, who backed his opinion, 
won largely also. Sam, in the pride flowing from 
his new-born importance, had bet recklessly and 
without sufficient previous examination of the 
chickens, and was “stripped to the skin,” as he 
mournfully expresed it, early in the day, but 
took his losses like a philosopher. 


A CASTLE nv THE AIR. 


201 


I kin stand it, boys," he said ; “ I’m a-gittin’ 
two dollars a day an’ board an’ whiskey, an’ ef I 
can’t stand a loss who kin, I should like to 
know ? ’’ 

I suppose,’’ said Slugger from behind the 
bar,^‘ Mr. Rankin paid you up, Sam, to date ? ’’ 

“Yes, he did, Mr. Slugger; honorable, down 
to date, down to this mornin’.’’ 

“ He’ll never pay you no more then,’’ said 
Slugger ominously. 

“ Why won’t Mr. Rankin pay me no more, Mr. 
Slugger?’’ inquired Sam. 

“ ’Cause dead men, or carried-off men, never pay 
nobody. You expect to find Mr. Rankin at the 
Lion to-morrow, but you won’t ; not much you 
won’t ; or if you do,’’ he added, hedging, “ you’ll 
find him past hirin’ of anybody at two dollars a 
day and board and whiskey. So you’d better a 
kep your money, instid of a-squanderin’ it on bad 
bets, to buy your drinks with.’’ 

“ I’ve plenty of friens around to treat me, Mr. 
Slugger,’’ answered Sam. “ I’ve had two invites 
to every one drink I’ve had to-day; an’ I don’t 
look fur ’em to give out afore sundown. My 
friens is as thick as grasshoppers.’’ 

“ And as green,’’ said Slugger, “ but not as 
green as you are, to go and sling your dear-earned 
money about in that way. I thought you hed 
more sense.’’ 

“ What’s all this talk about ?’’ said Yost, walking 


202 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


up to the bar. “ Come, Sam, take a drink ; 
Barney, walk up.” 

“ You see, Mr. Slugger,” said Sam triumphantly. 
“ Friens takes the place of money ; money’s not 
so lastin’ as friens, not by no means. Give me 
friens any day, and let the money go.” 

After nightfall, when the guests had departed, 
and the surviving chickens had been duly washed 
and doctored and put in their separate coops, the 
family assembled in the bar-room and discussed 
the events of the day. Miss Mirandy honored 
them with her presence and lent a charm to the 
conversation. 

“You tell Mr. Rankin,” she said to Sam, “ to 
send my money over here by noon, or I’ll be after 
him as soon as dinner’s over, and the things red 
up. It’s like as not if I have to go over. I’ll take 
Dandy away from him too — money and pony 
both. I’m not a-going to be imposed on, and so 
you tell Mr. Rankin to look out.” 

“I’ll tell him. Miss Mirandy,” said Sam. 
“ He’ll look out not to fall out with you. He’s 
too smart for that, Mr. Rankin is.” 

“ You’ll not find him very smart when you go 
over in the mornin’,” said Slugger; “ and Mi- 
randy’ll whistle fur her money and Dandy too. A 
fool and her pony’s soon parted.” 

“You let Mirandy alone, pap,” she answered; 
“ she’s capable of takin’ care of herself purty well. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 203 

specially as she ain’t so skeery as some folks it’s 
needless to mention.” 

“ Young gals ain’t in their places in bar-rooms,” 
answered Slugger, stung by this retort, “ a-inter- 
ruptin’ men by their talk. They hed better be a 
mendin’ stockin’s in their kitchen, that’s what 
they’d better be a-doin’ of, by a long sight.” 

“ Mr. Yost,” said Mirandy, paying no regard to 
her father’s last remark, “ what do you think of 
them doin’s over to your house? Do you think 
them spirits is real or got up ? ” 

“ The spirits in the Lion are real. Miss Mi- 
randy,” answered Yost. “ At least one is, for I 
recognized him and I know he’s dead.” 

^‘That was him,” said Slugger. 

“Yes,” answered Yost, “ that was him.” 

“ Wliy didn’t you speak to it,” inquired Mi- 
randy, “ and ask it what it was a-cuttin’ up in that 
way fur, and what it wanted of you ? ” 

“ Mr. Yost did say somethin’,” interposed Sam, 
“ and the sperit melted away direct, a-frownin’ on 
him.” 

“ No, it didn’t frown on him,” said Yost, “ but 
it disappeared.” 

“ It seemed to me to frown, anyway,” said Sam. 
“ I was somewhat skeered, an’ it’s more’n likely 
it’s me it frowned at. I’m no favor/V^ of hisn, 
an I ’spect it was me it was a-aimin’ at. I’m not 
afeard of his black looks, nohow. Black looks don’t 
kill nobody.” 


204 


A CASTLE IN THE A IP. 


^‘You’ll not git shet of it at the Lion, Yost,'* 
said Slugger solemnly, until it’s spoke to and it 
tells what it wants. Maybe it’s got that there 
bundle on its mind, and wants to tell where it’s 
hid, and can’t till you speak first and ask. It’s 
dangerous a-holdin’ converse with ’em, but I don’t 
see no other way. If it ever comes to the Coon 
and hangs about like it does at the Lion, it’ll get 
spoke to. I’m not a-goin’ to be driv out of my 
house by no spirit, if speakin’ to it’ll get me shet 
of it.” 

“ I think I hear you addressing a spirit,” laughed 
Mirandy. If it comes here and’s got out, it’ll be 
me much more likely as sends it a-flyin’. I’ll run 
at it with a broom, that’s what I’ll do, and hammer 
it fur cuttin’ off Dandy’s tail. I don’t fear no 
spirit that’s mean enough to cut a pony’s tail off. 
Let it come here once and you’ll see who’s afeard 
and who isn’t.” 

“ It’ll cast a spell on you. Miss Mirandy,” said 
Sam, “ if you try to misuse it. It’ll get insulted 
sure if you run at it with a broom. Even a man 
don’t like to be run at with a broom, much less a 
spirit.” 

“Well, let it keep away from me then,” she 
answered wrathfully. “ I’ll stand no nonsense, 
and they might as well know it, first as last.” 

“ If it comes to hant the Coon,” said Slugger, 
“ Mirandy’ll not live a month ; no, nor the half of 
it. I misdoubt ef she gets through the fust half 


A CASl’LE IN THE AIR. 


205 


alive. I’m sorry fur Mirandy. She’s the only 
gal I’ve got, but I don’t see no hope fur her, ef 
the spirit comes. None whatever.” 

“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed Mirandy. “You 
needn’t try to sheer me, pap.” 

“ I ain’t a-tryin’ to sheer nobody,” answered 
her father; “I’m only givin’ a warnin’. Them 
that can tahe it, let ’em, and them that can’t, let 
’em suffer. I’ve done my duty.” 

At this moment a boy came in who had been 
sent to the station for supplies, and called at the 
Lion to leave a bottle of milh for Rush. He 
reported the doors open and no sign of Mr. Ran- 
hin. He had called aloud, and, getting no answer, 
had left the bottle on the hitchen table and hur- 
ried way. He gave it as his decided opinion that 
the gentleman was “ done fur.” 

“What do you thinh of that, Mirandy?” said 
her father. “ That comes of a defyin’ of the 
spirits. You had better look out or it’ll be your 
turn next.” 

“ Did you see Dandy ? ” she inquired of the boy. 

“ Yes,” he answered, “ I see him a-trottin’ round 
the paddock with his stump a-stickin’ out.” 

“ How did the poor feller look? ” 

“ Awful,” answered the boy. 

“Poor Dandy!” she said. “ I’ll make some- 
body pay for this,” casting a threatening glance 
at Sam that he quailed under, “ if Mr. Rankin’s 
gone. I’ll have satisfaction out of somebody.” 


2o6 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ Was there any fire in the kitchen ? ” asked 
Yost. 

“ None/' answered the boy ; “ it was dead out. 
He’s not there, gentlemen, fur I hollered loud 
enough to wake the dead. When you all went 
away and left him alone, the spirits had him to 
theirselves, and they must a flowed off with him. 
That’s what I think become of him.” 

Come up and take a little weak whiskey and 
water, boy,” said Slugger. “ Come up all, gentle- 
men, and take a drink. I’ll stand treat.” 

“ Maybe he’s found the bundle, and eloped to 
keep from dividing,” suggested Barney, who 
recalled the Rosedow business and his friends 
Thaddeusand Outcalt. 

“ Maybe he was frightened off and run away,” 
suggested Mirandy. 

“ No, Miss Mirandy,” said Sam, Mr. Rankin 
isn’t of the runnin’ kind. He’d stay an’ fight till 
they killed him or carried him off. Though now 
I come to think of it, he did look skeered when 
we went out to the trough in the rain. I hed a 
mind fur to say ^ Si Hunter ’ in a joke like, but I 
didn’t want to hurt his feelin’s. Si’s the wo’st 
used-up man in these hills ; why, he hasn’t been 
out at night after nothin’ sence he knocked at the 
back door of the Lion to win Joe’s coon, an’ after 
he won it he wouldn’t tech it. He’s got a 
spell put on him, that’s what’s the matter of Si 
Hunter/’ 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


207 


^^He’s hanted,” said Slugger, fur goin’ down 
and defyin’ of the spirits on a bet. You can’t 
insult a spirit that a-way ; it won’t stand it. And 
fur a dead coon at that ! Why, he couldn’t a done 
a wus thing, or a more disagreeabler thing. It 
was more insultin’, if anythin’, than a-hitten’ of 
’em with a broom.” 

At this cut Mirandy smiled and said : 

“ If the spell keeps him at home a choppin’ 
wood fur his old mother instead of gallivantin’ at 
night after coon and a-sleepin’ all next day, it’ll 
be a blessin’ to her anyway, and none the wus fur 
him. The usefullest knock Si ever give was on 
the back door of the Lion that early mornin’, and 
if Sam had the sense to be drove to work by ’em 
’twould be a blessin’ fur him.” 

‘‘Not fur me, Miss Mirandy,” said Sam; “I 
wouldn’t keer to live ef I couldn’t hunt coon no 
more, I wouldn’t indeed. Ef a feller’s druv from 
the hills at night fur good by them durned 
spirits, life’s not worth livin’. A feller might 
as well lay down and kick the bucket at once an* 
be done with it. Them’s my Miss 

Mirandy, and gentle;;/^;/.” 

“ When you lock up the Lion to-morrow 
mornin’, Mr. Yost,” said Slugger, as the party 
surrounded the bar for their nightcap, “ I wish 
you wouldn’t bring the keys to the Coon.” 

“Where can I leave them?” asked Yost. 

“ Leave ’em at the groc’ry at the station,” said 


2o8 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


Sam ; they’re not afeard of ’em. When I went 
down on Dandy fur the whiskey, an’ was talkin’ 
of the spirits at the Lion, they laughed an’ said 
all the spirits we found in the Red Lion that night 
we’d find in the jugs.” 

Rush had stepped to the door to see the party 
off in the morning, and stood watching them, but 
not thinking of them, as they wound up the path 
and disappeared over Possum Knob. He then 
returned to the kitchen and sat looking in the fire 
for an hour, musing. His mind was busy with 
perplexing doubts. He felt uncertain whether 
Rinemond had or had not intended to deceive 
him, and had disposed of the bundle before he 
reached the Lion, uncertain whether the appari- 
tions were really supernatural or simulated, 
uncertain whether — the supernatural admitted — 
there were or were not men also about the inn 

f 

endeavoring to drive them off by performing the 
grosser acts of bewilderment. If Rinemond did 
not bring the bundle here, why did his specter 
seem to carry it into the back yard and return 
without it? To carry on the deception perhaps, 
by a law of the invisible world, as a part of his 
punishment for that special deed intended in the 
flesh. What had become of the vision chamber? 
Was it possible his mind had become unhinged, 
and it was all an hallucination produced by 
revery ? 


A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. 


209 


One of these doubts might be solved. If men 
were about the house, they must somewhere have 
left some trace of their presence. He rose from 
his seat and went up to the garret where he had 
noticed a pair of old felt slippers, and, putting 
them on, began his search. Room by room, and 
floor by floor, he went over the entire building 
until he reached the ground. He then took a 
lunch and a glass of whiskey, and rested for a 
time. Then going to the cellar, the door of which 
was open, he descended quietly, and sat down in 
the dark and listened, falling into a train of 
thought. A noise aroused him that seemed to 
come from the farthest apartment, into which 
opened the wine-cave. He stole up the steps to 
the kitchen, lighted a candle, and returned, pistol 
in hand. He moved cautiously and slowly on un- 
til he reached the last room and saw before him 
the wine-cave door ajar. He approached and, 
drawing it wide open, looked in. His light dis- 
closed the front half of the cave, and left the 
rear in darkness. After a brief hesitation, he 
entered and walked back, cast his light about, and 
turned to retreat. As he did so, he saw the mas- 
sive door slowly coming to, and made a rush. 
When he reached it, it was closed, and he heard 
the bolt shoot into the socket. He threw his 
weight against it, and broke into a cold perspira- 
tion. He was trapped — the thought passed 
through his mind — ^like a rat! His high courage 


210 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


deserted him. He felt as he had never felt be- 
fore, utterly helpless. The light was extin- 
guished, the cave in utter darkness. He listened 
for some movement or noise outside, but he 
heard nothing ; all was silent. After a time, the 
cold from the damp ground chilled him, and his 
knees began to give way. He was unnerved. 
The many barrels and boxes that had once lit- 
tered the place long after their contents had 
sparkled on the once famous table of the old 
Red Lion had been gradually removed for 
humbler uses, until, when Rush walked in with 
his candle and made his inspection, there was 
nothing but the floor of earth and arched walls of 
rough'stone, both damp and cold. The door was 
of great thickness, studded with iron, made strong 
to protect the once precious stores within. The 
air was heavy and foul, and soon his breathing 
became oppressed. His clothing was light, and 
his feet shod with the thin-soled slippers that he 
had put on in the garret. He had come down 
without his hat. There was nothing to sit down 
on but the ground, and, his feet getting benumbed 
with cold, and his weakness increasing, he began 
to walk, holding out his arms and extending his 
fingers as the phantom had done in traversing the 
hall. The resemblance struck him and increased 
his dismay. He groped his way to and fro in the 
dark for hours, until his legs refused to longer sup- 
port him, when he stripped off his coat and, lay- 


A CAS7XE IN THE AIR. 


21 r 


ing it on the ground, sat down and leaned his 
back against the wall. But, finding the cold 
stone was chilling him, he put his handkerchief 
on the ground in front to put his feet on, and 
leaned forward with his face in his hands and 
his elbows on his knees and shivered in de- 
spair, He never expected to see the light 
again. When the men returned on the following 
morning and missed him, they would think he 
had found the bundle and gone off to avoid di- 
viding it, or had been made way with in the night 
by the phantom. If he fired his pistol while they 
chanced to be in the house, its dull reverberation, 
if it penetrated the walls of his prison, would 
sound like a supernatural echo, and drive them 
the quicker away. 

He resigned himself to his fate, and began to 
think over his past life. His native village rose 
up first before him. Scene after scene of his boy- 
hood came one after another to his mind. Here- 
called a desperate fight with a schoolmate in re- 
cess who had taunted him, and how the boys 
around who had joined in the sneer applauded 
and courted him when he came out victorious. 
The blood rushed to his face as the scene came 
before his mental vision, fresh and clear as the 
day of the combat. He thought of his mother, 
and regretted he had not sent her more money, 
and gone to see her since his return from the South. 
This brought his career in that country to his 


212 


A CASTLE I/V THE AIR. 


mind, and, as he thought it over, and of the loss 
of his accumulations, and of Rosedowand the fate 
of his friend Rinemond, there came to his mind 
Sam’s quotation of Slugger about money, and he 
began to rock himself, and broke the silence of 
his dungeon for the first time since the door mys- 
teriously closed on him, exclaiming aloud in a 
hoarse, singing tone : 

‘‘ What is money ? What is money? ” 

His mind seemed now partially to give way, 
and he went on for hours, rocking and singing at 
intervals. 

As night advanced, he fell into a broken and 
fitful slumber, from which he awoke from time to 
time, and broke out into the refrain : 

“ What is money ? What is money? Don’t 
go, Sam ; what is money ? ” 


CHAPTER XV. 


THE FORTUNE HUNTERS ARE PUT TO ROUT. 



HEN the sun rose on Monday morning and 


V V began to glimmer through the pine tops on 
the eastern hill, he caught the inhabitants of the 
Coon, for the first time in his existence, buried in 
slumber. It was the first time within Mirandy’s re- 
collection that he had risen before her. That young 
woman had sat up with the men in the bar-room 
until a very late hour, ignoring the suggestion of 
her father to retire to the kitchen, and, in conse- 
quence, had the mortification to find herself 
beaten up by the sun. Breakfast was therefore 
late, and the morning was advanced before the 
three phantom-ridden men took their departure 
for the Red Lion to seek the remains of Rush, 
their late companion, and to lock up the old inn. 
It had been admitted on all sides the night before 
that Mr. Rankin was “no more.” 

“Take the keys, Yost,” said Slugger, “to the 
station and leave them at the groc’ry. They 
have no fear of spirits there, and they have no 
call to be afeard. No decent spirit would hant a 
station, with all the clatter and noise, not if he 


214 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


was in his right mind. I'd like to accommodate 
you by keepin’ of ’em at the Coon, but I couldn’t, 
not sence they’ve begun a-whiskin’ men off.” 

“ It’s all right, Slugger,” said Yost. “ I wouldn’t 
ask it of you, and I’m obliged to you for keeping 
them as long as you have.” 

“ You Sam,” called out Mirandy, coming to the 
door as they were walking off. ‘‘ Stop there a 
minute, all of you ; I’ve got a word to speak be- 
fore you go. The things that Mr. Rankin’s left 
behind him is mine. That’s who they belong to 
for to pay for Dandy’s hire and his tail. And you 
bring them back with you, and don’t ride Dandy 
too hard. If he’s a-sweatin’ much when he gets 
home, you’ll ketch it.” 

Sam promised to carry out her orders to the let- 
ter, and the men set out in single file over the hill. 
They were each more or less afflicted with a head- 
ache, and preserved a mournful silence until they 
reached the summit of Possum Knob, where they 
halted to take observations before descending to 
the field of battle. Gathering clouds had obscured 
the sun, and the old inn beneath them with its 
surroundings, embosomed in a forest of dark pine, 
looked gloomy and ghost-like. Dandy was not 
in sight, and was pronounced to have been ab- 
ducted, but was, in fact, in his paddock, hidden 
from their view by the house, with his neck oyer 
the fence, gazing mournfully at the forbidden 
water-trough. All the doors in sight were wide 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


215 


open ; but there was no sign of Rush or any liv- 
ing thing. Resuming their route, they descended 
the hill and, passing through the hole in the gar- 
den fence, entered the kitchen by the back hall 
door. 

The fire was out, the bottle of milk stood on 
the table unopened, the great bundle of keys lay 
beside it surrounded by the litter of yesterday’s 
breakfast, Rush’s hat stood on the window sill. 
A spider had dropped a thread on it from above, 
and was weaving a web from the crown to the 
rim. The men looked about them in dismay. 

“ We may as well lock up and leave,” said Yost. 
“ But we must carry these things back to the gar- 
ret first. Lay hold of those beds,” he added, 
taking up the keys, “and come on.” 

“Won’t they keep down here, Mr. Yost?” said 
Sam. “ I don’t keer about goin’ up stairs much.” 

“ No,” answered Yost, “ Hollanda won’t like 
it ; they must go up.” 

“Well, then,” said Sam, “I move we take 
some spirits before we begin, to kind o’ fortify 
ourselves like.” This was acceded to, and the 
work began. On entering the garret, Sam let his 
burden fall, and, pointing to the floor, exclaimed: 

“ By George ! There’s his shoes.” 

They started back at the sight, as Robinson 
Crusoe at the footprint in the sand. The ghost 
of Rush would scarcely have startled them more. 
As they came down, they went out on the front 


2i6 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


upper porch and looked into the Rinemond 
chamber. On a chair near the door stood Rush's 
carpet-sack, packed ; and on it lay folded up his 
overcoat ; and in front on the floor were the shoes 
he had slipped off and lost in his pursuit of the 
phantom. A silk umbrella leaned against the 
back of his chair, and over it hung his 
gloves. 

“ Jist prepared to go away of hisself,” muttered 
Sam in an awestruck tone, “ when they come an’ 
snaked him off ; what a outrage ! ” 

“ It's awful,” said Barney. 

“ Them things belong to Miss Mirandy,” said 
Sam. “ Step in an' bring 'em out, Mr. Barney, 
if you please.” 

‘‘You had better go in,” answered Barney; 
“ she ordered you to get them.” 

“ The spirit’s got a mortal spite agin me,” said 
Sam, “ or I would ; an’ I think you’re a idivorite 
with him. He won’t tech you ; go in.” 

Thus abjured, Barney entered and brought out 
the things ; and the men returned to the kitchen. 
A neigh from Dandy now called attention to the 
fact that he was still in the land of the living ; 
and Sam took up the bucket to water him, recog- 
nizing his challenge as an appeal for a supply 
of that liquid. 

“You take up the rest of the furnitur’ to the 
garret, gentlew^«,” said Sam, “ while I water 
Dandy an’ saddle him up ; an’ leave the knives 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 217 

an’ forks an’ little things to go up in the bucket 
when I git back.” 

After giving the two men abundant time to 
carry up the remaining furniture, Sam appeared 
in the back-yard with Dandy, who made a move- 
ment toward the smoke-house, thinking it, proba- 
bly, his destiny to go in again and get shaved. 

“ No, Dandy,” said Sam, “ no more of that 
durned work ; a-takin’ of ponies into smoke-houses 
an’ a-shavin’ of their tails off is played out,” and 
with that he hitched him, and returned to the 
kitchen with the bucket, and began to stow into 
it the knives and spoons. All that now deferred 
their immediate departure from the inn was this 
bucket, and, as Sam finished packing it, he stood 
up and gazed about for any article that might 
have been overlooked. 

‘‘ Where’s the candlestick ? ” he said. I don’t 
see no candlestick.” 

“ Maybe the spirits took it,” said Barney, look- 
ing around. “ It’s nowhere here.” 

“ Spirits don’t use no candles,” said Sam ; “ they 
manufactur’ their own light as they go along. 
It’s Mr. Rankin has took it ; that’s where it has 
gone.” 

Where do you think he could have gone with 
it, Sam ? ” asked Barney. ‘‘ He didn’t need a 
light in the daytime, and he was off when the boy 
came over in the afternoon.” 

“ He went to the cellar/’ said Sam. I’ll bet 


2i8 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


he’s a-lyin* in a fit on the cellar floor this minit. 
Let’s take a drink an’ go down an’ look for him.” 

They all took a drink, and Sam, with a lighted 
candle in his hand, led the way to the cellar, each 
armed with a stick of wood from the pile by the 
fireside. Passing cautiously through the front 
apartments, they observed, on entering the last, 
the heavy wine-cave door that had resisted their 
efforts to open on their previous visits slightly 
ajar. At this unlooked-for sight, Sam, enthused 
with the hope of rescuing his free-handed em- 
ployer, and stimulated by the previous visit to the 
jug, rushed forward and threw it wide open. 
Then, recoiling a few paces, he held the candle 
up and peered into the dark recess. In a few 
moments there emerged from the gloom into the 
halo cast by the feeble light a staggering, bent 
figure, with snow-white hair. Sam dropped the 
candle with a shriek and fled, followed by his 
companions. The figure picked up the unextin- 
guished light, and slowly made its way out of the 
cellar, and entered the kitchen at the moment 
Sam, with the jug tilted over his arm, was pouring 
out a drink. At this second sight, he again gave 
utterance to an exclamation of alarm, and, start- 
ing back, the jug slipped from his nerveless grasp 
and, falling to the hearthstone, broke, and the 
contents were absorbed by the ashes or ran in 
devious rills over the floor. 

“ What’s the matter with you ?” asked Rush in 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


219 


a querulous, low, hoarse tone. “ Don’t you know 
me? Give me a cup^f whiskey,” he added, tak- 
ing an abandoned chair ; and Barney, build up a 
big fire. Why, you all act like crazy men.” 

Seeing his overcoat on the carpet-sack, he put 
it on, and called for his hat. The stimulant and 
blazing fire soon restored him, and, looking about 
the room, he said : 

“What’s become of the furniture, and who 
packed my carpet-sack ? What time of day is it? ” 

“ It’s about noon,” answered Sam, with staring 
eyes. 

“ What are you looking at me in that way 
for? ” said Rush impatiently. “ What’s the mat- 
ter with me ? ” 

“ Your hair, Mr. Rankin,” said Sam. 

“ What’s the matter with my hair ? ” asked 
Rush. 

“ Turned white as snow,” said Sam. 

Rush rose and walked to the window, where he 
caught a dim reflection of his head and face, and, 
turning, resumed his seat by the fire, and gazed 
into it in silence. 

“ The furniture,” said Yost, “ we packed away in 
the garret, and we found your things packed in 
your room in your sack, and your shoes ready to 
put on.” 

“What shoes? ” asked Rush, looking up. 

“ Them,” said Sam, picking them up and laying 
them down in front of him, 


220 


A CAS7XE JN THE AIR. 


Rush looked curiously at them, picked them 
up, turned them over, and put them on. 

“I saw the pony saddled in the yard,” he said, 
“ as I came in. You were about leaving ? ” 

“Yes,” said Yost, “when that bucket of things 
had got to the garret, we’d have been off, and for 
good.” 

“ Heavens, what a narrow escape ! ” exclaimed 
Rush. “ And what took you to the cellar at the 
last moment ? ” 

“Sam,” answered Yost ; “ the credit is due to 
him. Tell Mr. Rankin how it occurred to you, 
Sam.” 

“ Well, you see, Mr. Rankin, it happened 
this a-way,” said Sam. “ They was takin’ up the 
things, an’ I tuk the bucket an’ went out to 
water Dandy, an’ I saddled an’ bridled him, an’ 
led him into the yard, an’ I tied him where you 
seen him tied when you come up. Well, I come 
in an’ filled the bucket with small things, an’ it 
come over me thet somethin’ was wrong, an’ I 
stood up an’ looked about an’ missed somethin’, 
an’ I said, ^Wherever is the candlestick?’ an’ 
Mr. Barney sez, ‘ The ghost’s got it,’ an’ I sez, 
‘ It hain’t ; a ghost’s got no call for a candlestick; 
Mr. Rankin’s got it, that’s who’s got it, an’ he’s 
gone to the cellar with it, an’ he’s a-lyin’ down 
there now on his back in a fit, an’ we’ll take a 
drink fust an’ go fur him,’ — an’ we did, an’ we 
seen the cave door open a little way, an’ so I 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


221 


pulled it wide open, an* you come out an* 
skeered us, an’ we lit, an’ that’s how it was 
exactly.” 

Rush thought a little while and drew his pocket- 
book from the inner lining of his vest, and handed 
Sam some bank-notes. 

Here Sam,” he said, “ is a hundred dollars for 
you. Stop coon-hunting and bundle-hunting, and 
get married and settle down.” 

“ Great Jerusalem ! ” exclaimed Sam. “ Who 
ever heerd of that much money in a bunch? I’ll 
save up,” he muttered to himself, as he put away 
the notes, “ an’ buy the Wild Cat Holler next 
Raccoon, an* put in fur Miss Mirandy, an’ git her 
too, by George ! ” 

“What kind of a place is Wildcat Hollow?” 
inquired Rush, who overheard him. 

“ It has a good cabin an’ spring-house,” said 
Sam, “ an’ every thin* any man on earth needs, 
an’ some as good land as Raccoon’s got. It’s a 
nice place, an* the widder wants to sell an* go 
live with her daughter. I’ll lay up, an’ I’ll git it 
yit ; you mind ef I don’t, Mr. Rankin.” 

“ What’s the price ? ” inquired Rush. 

“ One hundred an* ninety is the takin* price,” 
answered Sam. “ The widder’s askin’ price is two 
hundred and fifty. I found it out this a-way, Mr. 
Rankin. I sez to myself when you went away 
before, ef I find this here bundle an’ keep it safe 
fur Mr. Rankin, mebbe he’ll give me enough fur 


222 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


my sheer to buy the Wildcat Holler, an’ then I 
kin go fur Mirandy ; so I felt purty sure I’d find 
the bundle, an’ I dropped in to spend the evenin’ 
at the widder’s fur to circumvent her. So I tole her 
that I knowed a man who was a cornin’ into a in- 
heritance, an’ he thought of buyin’ an’ marryin' 
an’ settlin’ down in life, an’ givin’ up coon- 
huntin’ an’ chicken-fightin’ an’ sich like, an’ I 
could sell fur her ef she’d give me her takin’ price 
right out in money down, without no worry about 
the askin’ price, an’ ef she would to give it up, 
an’ ef she wouldn’t to forever hold her tongue. 
And she said, ‘ Sam, I’ll be honest with you. You 
want the Wildcat Holler fur yourself and Miss 
Mirandy, I know you do, an’ there ain’t no man 
a-goin’ to get no inheritance, but ef you and Miss 
Mirandy hit it off. Slugger kin give you the 
money ; and my takin’ price, but mind you keep it 
secret,’ she said, ‘is, to you an’ Mirandy, mind, 
one hundred and ninety, cash’; an’ she was so 
close she didn’t speak it out nuther, but wrote 
the figures down in the ashes with a stick ; an’ 
that’s how I cum to know, Mr. Rankin.” 

“Sam,” said Rush, “you have earned Wildcat 
Hollow from me to-day, and you shall have it,” 
and he gave him ninety more. “ Go buy to- 
morrow before it is sold to some one else.” 

“ Why, Mr. Rankin,” said Sam, “ I was goin’ to 
pay fifteen of this to Miss Mirandy fur the pony. 
She said she wouldn’t hev Dandy no more, an’ I 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 223 

must bring her back fifteen fur him, which is her 
takin’ price, an’ I kin make it up in a few months 
sellin’ coon skins.” 

“No, Sam,” said Rush, “you must buy the 
Hollow to-morrow. Here is the price of Dandy, 
and the hire, and tell Mirandy I am much obliged 
to her. The groceries you had better pack up and 
take home with you, and hide them at the cross 
road until you come back, for I want you to go 
to the station with me. Does the saddle and 
bridle go with Dandy ? ” 

“Yes, Mr. Rankin,” answered Sam, “Miss Mi- 
randy said let him take Dandy, mane an’ tail, 
saddle an’ bridle. I don’t want to see hide nor 
hair of him agin. Them was her very words. 
She was so mighty put out about the spirit a- 
cuttin’ off his tail, as she called it, though I told 
her it was on’y shaved.” 

“Yost,” said Rush, “let’s be off. Barney, bring 
out the things. Sam, lead round the pony to the 
front door. I must go up to the city on the even- 
ing train. I don’t think I’ll ever set foot in the 
Red Lion again, ^ not fur no bundle,* as Sam 
would say.” 

When they reached the station they bade good- 
by to Sam, and Rush told him to keep Dandy, 
Saddle and bridle, as a wedding present, and to 
use him in cultivating Wildcat Hollow; and they 
boarded the train and were off before Sam could 
give utterance to the elaborate address of grati- 


224 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


tude that was working within him. After watch- 
ing the train until it disappeared, he mounted 
Dandy and rode over to the grocery and proposed 
to deposit the keys of the Red Lion with them. 
The grocer answered, Certainly,” and tossed 
them under the counter. 

“You don’t seem afeard of ’em much,” said 
Sam. 

“ Why should I ? ” said the grocer. 

“ On account of the ghost a-follerin’ after ’em,” 
said Sam. 

“ There ain’t no ghosts,” said the grocer. 

“There is ghosts,” said Sam, “an’ you daren’t 
spend a night in the Old Red Lion fur all your 
wuth. I’ve spent nights there, an’ I’ve been paid 
fur it. Look at that boss. He’s mine, saddle and 
bridle ; I got him fur contendin’ with the Red 
Lion sperit an’ not bein’ afeard. Don’t give the 
keys to nobody but me an’ the gentleman you 
see ride up on Dandy. Mr. Rankin’s his name. 
He’s got a right to go in, fur he’s sunk money 
there, bushels of it.” 

“ Well, if I ever saw the like ! ” exclaimed Mi- 
randy, indignantly, as Sam rode to the door of the 
Coon on Dandy, loaded down with groceries and 
the remaining jug. 

“ Don’t git mad. Miss Mirandy,” interrupted 
Sam, hastily. “ I’ve brought the money fur you, 
an’ Dandy’s mine ; give to me fur openin’ the 
door of the Wildcat — the wine-cave, I mean — an’ 


A CASTLE m THE AIR. 


225 


a-lettin’ Mr. Rankin out. All these groceries is 
mine, too,” he continued, unloading Dandy, “ and 
I want Mr. Slugger to walk over with me to Wild- 
cat Holler on a little business IVe got over that 
a-way.” 

Come in, Sam,” said Slugger, “ and tell us the 
news.” 

“ I won’t go into no man’s house agin,” said 
Sam, highly excited, “ until I walk into my own. 
I’m a-goin’ over this minute to Wildcat to buy 
the widder out ; an’ I want two honest witnesses 
to swear to her takin’ of the hand money.” 

“ Wait, Sam,” said Mirandy, softly, “ till I git 
my things on, and we’ll go with you. I owe the 
widder a visit anyway.” 

Mr. Slugger,” said Sam, “ I’ll borry your pen 
an’ ink, for I misdoubt ef there is any at Wild- 
cat, an’ a piece of paper; an’ we’ll fix that wid- 
der so she can’t back out nohow. I’m a-goin’ to 
git married, Mr. Slugger, an’ stop coon-huntin’ — 
that is, ef Miss Mirandy’ll hev me.” 

“ I suspect she’ll take you, Sam,” said Slugger, 
“ ’specially if you deal fur the Holler. It adjines 
the Raccoon, and will be a strong temptation to 
Mirandy, But no man kin tell whether a gal is 
goin’ to say yes or no before she’s asked — they’re 
so tarnal freaky.” 


CHAPTER XVI. 


OLD GILES ON THE TRAIL. 

T he night of the return of the party from their 
unsuccesful visit to the Red Lion, Hollanda 
drew from Yost a full account of their awful ex- 
perience and failure. The following forenoon she 
repeated it to Madison, after Pilot and Barney had 
gone to the office, Rush being confined to his bed 
with a rheumatic fever. 

“ The apparitions must have been frightful,” 
she said. “ This makes me resolved to find the 
bundle and get it out of the old Red Lion. When 
it goes the spirit of Rinemond will go, and not be- 
fore. And it will not rest anywhere on earth, in 
my opinion, until his children get what he left, or 
his wife gets it, or some one he was interested in. 
But, Mr. Decker, if they all failed after so careful 
a search, how can you hope to find it ? It doesn’t 
seem reasonable to me that you only can suc- 
ceed.” 

“ Mrs. Yost,” answered Madison, “ I do not 
claim to be the only one who can find the bun- 
dle ; but I do say that I am one of a very few 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 227 

who can. I know an old man in the mountains 
of Giles who would walk straight to where that 
bundle is hid if you took him to the house; and 
you will find, when we go down, that it will not 
be long before I put my hand on it. It takes a 
thoroughbred hunter — and they don’t grow in 
cities, or near them — to find a faint trail and 
follow it. The main trouble with city people is 
that they are too smart, which is a worse failing 
than not being smart enough. They think the 
man they are tracking has been wonderfully 
sharp, when the chances are he has been no such 
thing ; and they look too high up and too far 
away for a trail that is under their nose. The 
more men look for a bundle and fail the more 
chance a hunter has to find it. To the place a 
man has gone to hide a thing another may go to 
find it. Tell me what you know of Rinemond, 
his appearance, what he said and did on the 
night of his arrival. A glimpse at his charac- 
ter will help ; a dog will hide a bone in the 
ground ; a cat will hide a dead bird in the branch 
of a tree.” 

“ Mr. Decker,” said Hollanda, “ I will call Alva, 
and have him tell you ; he knows what occurred, 
and was the only one in the Lion besides Rine- 
mond that night.” 

“ I have told Alva what I intend to do,” she 
said, as she re-entered the room with Yost, and 
he will tell you exactly what happened.” 


228 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ Hollanda tells me, Mr. Decker,” said Yost, 
that she thinks you can find the Rinemond 
bundle.” 

I can find it the quicker,” said Madison, if I 
know the kind of man that hid it. Was he a bold 
man or a timid one? ” 

He was bold and self-confident,” said Yost. 

Then he lay down near it,” said Madison, 
“ and slept with one eye on it.” 

“ I don’t know about that,” said Yost. “ I 
thought I heard the back hall door open in the 
night ; and I think he took it out and hid it.” 

“ Not he,” answered Madison, “ and you may 
have been mistaken about the door having been 
opened ; there is nothing on earth more decep- 
tive than a noise at night. Tell me what oc- 
curred after he arrived and until he went to his 
room.” 

“ Well,” answered Yost, “he went to his room 
as soon as he registered, and said he was tired 
and would go to bed ; but, before doing so, he 
wrote a letter that was found on the table in the 
morning by the coroner, and I took a copy of it 
in a book, and will show it to you if you would 
like to see it.” 

“ I should like very much to see it,” answered 
Madison, and Yost brought in the “ Mysteries of 
Udolpho ” and handed it to him open at the place. 
Madison read it carefully. 

“Very well,” he said, handing back the book, 


A CAS TLB IN THE AIR. 229 

the man who wrote that didn’t hide a bone with 
meat on it a mile from the bed he slept in.” 

‘‘Well,” said Yost, “ I hope you may find it, for 
Hollanda will have no rest until it is out of the 
Red Lion. It must go to the heirs, though, if 
found.” 

“ If they can be found,” answered Madison, 
“ every dollar of it ; if not, we three shall deter- 
mine what shall be done with it. I wish to speak 
in confidence to you,” he continued, “about an- 
other matter. I have spoken to you, Mrs. Yost, 
about our relative, Mr. Decker, of Rosedow. The 
old gentleman has received a document, and it is 
much to his interest to know who signed it. I 
suspect your lodger. Rush, is the man, and wish 
you would get me a scrap of his writing. It is 
right that Mr. Decker should know, and it may 
save him from a heavy loss. Could you get me 
something this morning, no matter what, from his 
table ? ” 

“ I will try,” she answered, and, going into the 
dining-room, prepared a lemonade and carried it 
to him. 

“Take this, Mr. Rush,” she said, placing it on 
a stand at his bed-head, “ and I will put your room 
a little to rights.” 

He thanked her, and, raising up, drank a por- 
tion of the lemonade. She moved about, putting 
the chairs against the wall, and approaching the 
table, hidden from his sight by the footboard of 


230 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


the bed, took up and slipped under her apron a 
piece of paper headed, “To Evening News*' 

and carried it down to Madison. He drew from 
his pocket two documents, the transfers from 
Thaddeus and John Outcalt of their interests to 
Mr. Decker, and carefully compared the writing. 

“The body of these documents is in a dis- 
guised hand, but Rush wrote them ; the signa- 
tures, though, are not by him, but the same man 
signed them both, and that man I want to find.” 

“ Let me look at them,” said Hollanda, who, 
with her husband, was deeply interested. 

“ It looks to me like Barney’s hand,” said Hol- 
landa; “go to the office and get him to write 
something.” 

Madison, as he approached the office, saw 
Pilot walking away. As he turned a distant 
corner Barney came out and walked down rapidly 
and turned his corner on his way to the “Two 
Goats.” Madison entered and, going to the table, 
drew out his papers and compared the hand- 
writing with that of a document Pilot had just 
left partly finished. Then going over to Barney’s 
desk, he picked up a scrap on which had lately 
been scribbled the names of many Deckers. 
Among them his own name, Madison Decker, 
figured in divers places ; and, near the bottom of 
the list, the names of those visionary beings, 
Thaddeus and John Outcalt appeared. Madison 
held the signatures together, and in a moment 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


231 


saw that he had found his man, the unconscious 
Barney, then innocently disporting himself at the 
“ Goats.” He folded the scrap and placed it 
with the other papers in his pocket, and lighted 
a cigar and sat down to await the coming of the 
guilty clerk. 

“ Mr. Barney,” he said, as that personage en- 
tered the office some half-hour after, “how long 
will Mr. Pilot be absent ? ” 

“ He has gone over to Brooklyn,” answered 
Barney ; “ he said he would not be back for several 
hours.” 

“ Then we will have our little talk here,” said 
Madison. “ Do you know I have discovered, 
Barney, that you are one of our family, a Decker 
and an heir?” 

“ Then I must have been exchanged in the 
cradle,” said Barney. 

“You were exchanged in the cradle,” said 
Madison ; “ that’s just how it occurred ; truth, you 
know, is stranger than fiction. You are the 
owner of an interest and can sell out to-morrow 
for a large sum, if you like. What do you say?” 

“ Why, I know you are joking, Mr. Decker,” he 
answered, “but, of course, I would be glad to sell 
if I really had an interest.” 

“Very good,” said Madison, “you have an 
interest, and there is a demand for it, and you 
can sell to-morrow.” 

“ Who to ? ” inquired Barney. 


232 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

Pilot and Rush will take it between them, and 
give you eighty thousand for it,” said Madison. 

Barney turned pale, glanced at his desk, and 
missed the paper he had been scribbling on. 

^‘There’s nothing to be alarmed at, Barney,” 
said Decker ; “ it is a very simple transaction, and 
will not harm you in the least. Draw up two 
bills of sale, one to Pilot and one to Rush, for 
forty thousand dollars each, dated to-morrow, and 
sign them.” 

Barney, with a trembling hand, drew up the 
papers and handed them over the table. 

“ Sign your name to them,” said Madison. 

“My own name, Mr. Decker?” asked Barney. 

“Certainly,” answered Madison, “your own 
name, of course. In the morning we will close 
with Pilot first, and you will quit his service and 
settle with him, and I will give you better wages 
and a better chance to rise. I will give you a 
couple of bills of sale to Decker, of Rosedow, to 
burn up. You can recall them if you think a 
moment, and would like to put them in the fire, 
would you not ?” 

“Yes, Mr. Decker,” he answered, in a subdued 
tone, “ if you would be so kind.” 

“ I give you my word you shall have them, if 
you are faithful and silent. Before this time to- 
morrow, you may destroy them with your own 
hand and be a free man. We understand each 
other?” 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


233 


‘‘ Perfectly,” answered Barney ; “ I will be si- 
lent and do what you tell me. I will be only too 
glad to serve you. They have weighed on my 
mind enough. I shall be a happy man when I 
see them in ashes.” 

Here they are,” said Madison, holding them 
up before him, “signed Thaddeus and Outcalt 
Decker. You see I have them.” 

Barney saw but too well, and cowered. 

“And to-morrow,” added Madison, “you may 
send them up the chimney in smoke.” 

“ I hope you will be easy on the gentlemen,” 
said Barney ; “ they have been kind to me.” 

“ I shall do them no harm,” answered Madison, 
“ beside selling them your valuable interest in our 
family estate. Where can we meet the policeman 
on this beat, and have a quiet talk with him ? ” 

“The ‘Two Goats’ has a back room that you 
can have to yourself. It is a short distance round 
the corner.” 

“ What sort of a man is the day policeman, and 
what are his hours on ? ” 

“ He is a pleasant man,” answered Barney. 
“He has often taken a drink with me at the 
‘ Goats.’ He is on from six A. M. to six P. M.” 

“Go out and arrange to meet him at eight 
o’clock at the ‘ Goats.’ Tell him he will get a fee 
for his trouble,” said Madison. 

“ He says he’ll be there on time,” said Barney, 
on returning from his mission. 


234 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


‘‘ How did Pilot and Rush divide? ’’ asked Mad- 
ison. “Even, I suppose?'' 

“ I think they did, Mr. Decker. That is what 
I thought from what I heard them say. They 
gave me a trifle, but I have spent it. I can work 
it out, though, if that will do." 

“ Keep it, and say nothing about it," answered 
Madison. “ Where does Rush keep his share?" 

“ I think he has it in his trunk, for he got a 
new lock, and a strange one, a few days after the 
division. But Mr. Pilot, I think, carries his about 
with him." 

“ I know where Pilot has his," said Madison. 
“ Meet me at the ‘ Goats ' about eight." 

In the evening Madison made inquiry after the 
condition of Rush, and found that the doctor had 
expressed the opinion that he would be confined 
to his bed for several weeks. He was resting 
comfortably at the time, and Mrs. Yost went up 
and said to him that Mr. Decker, the new lodger, 
wished to come up and make his acquaintance. 
Pilot had given him an account of Madison's 
rupture with Rosedow and his purpose to settle 
in the city, and Rush had thought it might be 
well to cultivate him, and aid and advise him in 
his real estate purchases and sales. He readily 
consented to see him, and he was introduced by 
Hollanda as her Virginia relative. Rush looked 
sharply at him as he entered, and recalled his 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 235 

driving up the hill as he and Pilot rolled in tri- 
umph through the iron gate of Rosedow. 

Mr. Decker,” he said, “ I caught a glimpse of 
you on Rosedow hill, and am glad to make your 
acquaintance.” 

I am sorry to see you in bed, sir,” said Madi- 
son. I hope you will soon be up. Exposure in 
traveling, I suppose, brought you down.” 

“ Sleeping in a damp room did it,” said Rush. 

It will be a warning to me.” 

“ I have slept, sir,” said Madison, in the 
mountains of Giles — Giles County, Virginia, sir — 
in the snow many a night, and never the suspicion 
of a cold. My theory, sir, is that all colds are 
caught indoors, and I believe in it.” 

I dare say you are right,” answered Rush ; 
“ mine was caught, decidedly, indoors. Your 
family, I understand, sold out their interest in the 
Decker estate ? ” 

^‘Yes,” answered Madison, “and my father is 
rather ruing his bargain already, and would like 
to hedge a little.” 

“ Perhaps I may be of service to him when I 
recover,” said Rush. “ I have just returned from 
a tour among the Deckers, and know of several 
who want to sell. In fact, it was in a Decker 
house I caught my rheumatism.” 

“ I will talk with you again about buying an 
interest,” said Madison. “I suppose you will be 
out of bed in a day or two ? ” 


236 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ I fear not so soon,” he answered. I don’t 
believe I could get out of bed now if the house 
was afire.” 

I will call to-morrow, if you feel well enough, 
and talk over the Decker affair. Say some time 
in the forenoon.” 

“Very well,” he answered. “I shall be glad 
to see you. You will be sure to find me in.” 

When Madison arrived at the “ Two Goats ” in 
the evening, he found Barney in front of the door 
in conversation with the policeman, and was in- 
troduced by him to that officer, a Mr. Lynch, 
a rather diminutive and thin but spirited execu- 
tive. 

“Glad to make your acquaintance. Lynch,” 
said Madison. “ Let us walk into the back 
room.” 

“ I will give orders at the bar as we pass,” 
said Lynch, “ that we are not to be intruded on, 
sir.” 

“Now, Lynch,” said Madison, as they took 
their seats at a table. “ I want you to do me a 
little service in the line of your duty to-morrow, 
and if we come out successful I will give you a 
fifty-dollar fee. You see I like being candid in 
the start, so that we can understand each other. 
It’s a good plan, is it not ? ” 

“ It is, sir,” answered Lynch, “ none better.” 

“ There are two men on your beat,” said Madi- 
son, “ who have a lot of money that don’t belong 


A CASTLE IN THE AIK. 


237 


to them. I want you to go with us in the morn- 
ing, and if they disgorge let them go, and if not 
arrest them.” 

If you get out a warrant, I shall have to ar- 
rest them whether or no,” said Lynch, ‘"and if 
you don’t I will have no authority to act on. 
Couldn’t you get your money and arrest them 
too ? ” 

“ One of them is a connection of mine,” an- 
swered Madison, “and I don’t like to disgrace the 
family. If I promise to let them go, they will 
pay up ; otherwise I may not get it, or all of it. 
You would be justified in holding them until we 
get a warrant. That’s the law where I came from ; 
but they will fork over, if you are on hand ready 
to arrest them.” 

“Very well,” said Lynch. “ I’ll stand by you, 
sir, and if I should get into trouble you will see 
me through with the chief.” 

“ I will come to No. 10 Fish Street at nine 
in the morning,” said Madison. “When you see 
me go in, walk up and stand at the curbstone in 
front of the window. I may not call you in at all. 
I think not.” 

“ I will bring a pair of handcuffs with me,” said 
Lynch, “ and if he’s obstreperous I’ll clasp them 
on him. We may as well break the law in style, 
Mr. Decker, if we break it at all. In for a lamb, 
sir, in for a sheep.” 

“ By the way. Lynch,” said Madison, when 


238 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


you take your stand on the curb, you can hold 
the cuffs in your hands so we can see them from 
the window.” 

“ ril do so, Mr. Decker,” said Lynch ; “ the 
sight of them’s a powerful persuader at times ; 
I’ve known ’em to soften the hardest heart that 
words couldn’t move, and I’ll give them an acci- 
dental shake when I see you at the window. The 
rattle of them has a fine effect, sir, on the nerves, 
and breaks them down.” 

When Madison returned to Yost’s, Hollanda in- 
formed him that Mr. Pilot was in Rush’s room, 
and they had sent down to invite him up. He 
was received with great politeness, and found the 
gentlemen in fine spirits. A pitcher of iced lem- 
onade and a bottle of wine were on the table, and 
a bunch of Havana cigars. They sat in conver- 
sation until near midnight. Rush propped up in 
bed, and taking his full share in all that went on. 
Real estate was discussed, and instances given of 
fortunes acquired in two or three years by per- 
sons buying outlots and tracts of land through 
which existing thoroughfares extended would 
pass. Rush gave an account of his recent visits 
to the provincial Deckers, how he found them en- 
thused over the near approach of the division of 
the Amsterdam money, and all disposed to hold 
to their interests, or asking prices beyond the 
purse of Astor, save here and there a farmer who, 
to lift a mortgage, was reasonable. One, he said. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIK, 2^9 

who holds an interest of the identical value of the 
one sold by Decker of Giles, had offered him a 
fair fee to sell at five thousand. He had men- 
tioned this to Mr. Pilot, and he had suggested 
sending down for Mr. Decker and giving him the 
information. 

“I thought,” said Pilot, “ that, as you would 
have to communicate with your father, there 
would be considerable delay at the best, and de- 
lays are dangerous. I had a client who lost a for- 
tune by taking time to give an answer. He had 
an offer of a tract beyond the suburbs, and while 
he was making up his mind a sale was effected 
to another party. Within twelve months three 
streets were pushed through it and graded, and, 
on an investment of eight thousand, he realized 
over a hundred and fifty. My client bemoaned 
his ill-luck to me, but I said to him, ^ My friend, 
delays are dangerous ; there was no luck in it ; put 
the blame where it belongs.' ” 

“ What do you think the interest is worth,” 
asked Madison, ‘‘ now the appeal is taken ? ” 

‘‘ My attorney in Amsterdam writes me that 
the appeal will be set aside in six or eight months, 
at the furthest.” 

I wouldn’t let that influence me,” said Rush, 
^‘if I had the money to go in any deeper, but my 
last thousand went into the estate on my last visit 
to the country, and I got better terms, but not 
much, than this last chance offered your father,” 


240 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ Suppose my father,” said Madison, “ can’t 
screw his courage up to five thousand, do you 
think it could be got for less ? ” 

I tell you honestly,” answered Rush, “ I don’t 
think it can, but if your father will risk the de- 
lay, and a strong chance of losing the bargain, let 
him send on his best offer, and, if it has not been 
snapped up in the meantime. I’ll see what I 
can do.” 

I’ve got money enough to buy it myself,” 
said Madison. “ Can I meet you in your office at 
nine o’clock sharp, Mr. Pilot? I’ll sleep on it, and 
maybe we will deal for an interest in the morning ; 
but I don’t know ; as they say down in Old Giles, 
a man shouldn’t carry all his eggs in the same 
basket.” 

Hooked,” said Rush triumphantly, as Madi- 
son left the room and closed the door ; “ the Deck- 
ers are not all dead, and this one is the biggest 
fool left alive in the illustrious family.” 


CHAPTER XVII. 


DEFEAT OF PILOT AND THE FLIGHT OF RUSH. 



HEN Madison entered the office on the fol- 


VV lowing morning, Lynch was rapidly ap- 
proaching; and he found Barney at his desk, and 
Pilot ready to receive him. 

“ Well, Mr. Pilot," he said, I have made up 
my mind to make a deal in the Decker stock this 
morning." 

“ In anticipation of your decision," said Pilot, 
“ I have drawn up a transfer from Rush, as at- 
torney for Sydney Decker, of Cohansey, Cumber- 
land County, New Jersey. We can take a notary 
public to Rush’s room and have the paper exe- 
cuted, and deposit it with your check to await 
a transfer signed by Decker himself. It will be 
better, and will take but a few days." 

Yes," said Madison, “ that will be best. And 
now, Mr. Pilot, I have an astounding piece of 
intelligence to communicate to you, calculated, 
as we say in Giles, to dumbfound a body. I 
made the discovery only yesterday that Mr. 
Barney is a descendant of our old friend, Hendrik 
Dekker, and is the heir to an interest in the great 


242 A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. 

estate exactly equal to the two shares sold by 
Messrs. Thaddeus and John Outcalt Decker to 
the old gentleman at Rosedow for the sum total 
of eighty thousand dollars. Barney, being rather 
impecunious at present, expressed a desire to sell, 
and at my suggestion drew up two bills of sale, 
one to you, and one to Mr. Rush, for forty 
thousand each. I told him he ought to give you 
an opportunity to buy rather than to seek a pur- 
chaser in the open market. I knew you would 
not let such a chance slip through your fingers ; 
and for fear some outside parties may snap it up — 
for delays, as you very truly remarked last night, 
are dangerous — I advise you, as a friend, to close 
at once, pay over to Barney the forty thousand 
on the nail, as we say in Old Giles, and run no 
risks.” 

Pilot, who had sat intently watching Madison, 
got up as he concluded, and, walking to a stand in 
the corner, drank a glass of water ; and, returning, 
leaned his back against the mantel. 

“Silence gives consent,” said Madison. “ Bar- 
ney, hand out your bill of sale. It was drawn up 
in advance, Pilot, in anticipation of your decision. 
Here you have it, and Barney wants his money; 
he distinctly stated that he must have the entire 
payment cash down.” 

“ Where am I to get such a sum of money on a 
moment's warning,” asked Pilot hoarsely. “ I 
must have time to realize. The interest is worth 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 243 

the money, and I will buy and give my note at 
sixty days. I can’t gather up that amount 
sooner.” 

“It will not take near that length of time,” 
answered Madison, “ to take your coat and vest 
off and get at the pocket in your flannel shirt. 
This is strictly a cash transaction, Mr. Pilot. 
I know it’s an embarrassing thing for a gentle- 
man to strip before company, but there’s no help 
for it.” 

Pilot made a movement toward the back door, 
but Madison, who was nearer to it, turned the key 
in the lock and put it in his pocket. 

“ I suppose you are aware, Mr. Decker,” said 
Pilot, “ that you are laying yourself open to ar- 
rest for robbery? ” 

“ Arrest away,” answered Madison. 

“You and Barney have conspired to blackmail, 
that is certain,” said Pilot, “ and I can send you 
to the State prison.” 

“ Before you send us, come with me to the win- 
dow,” said Madison, “ I wish to say a word in 
private. Now, Pilot,” he continued, when they 
had taken their position, “ here is how the case 
stands. You and Rush must disgorge or go to 
prison, that is the long and short of it.” At this 
moment their attention was attracted to Mr. 
Lynch on the curbstone, tossing the handcuffs in 
the air, and catching them, with a rattle, as they 
came down. 


244 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


“ I am Mn Decker’s prospective son-in-law,” 
continued Madison, “ and represent him in this 
matter. I have documents from the consul and 
bank at Amsterdam. All the papers you pre- 
sented at Rosedow as coming from that quarter 
are forgeries ; there is no deposit in the bank, big 
or little; the consul denounces j^ou ; your Butter 
Market associate is a man of straw. You are in 
the toil and there is but one loophole. Pay back 
and go free. Mr Decker may prosecute you or 
may not, after he gets back his money ; until then, 
at least, you will be unmolested and can provide 
for your safety. The handcuffs the gentleman 
you may observe outside is amusing himself with 
are intended for you ; and he has expressed his 
determination, if you make it necessary, to strip 
you here at the office, and to search your room at 
501. Take my advice ; fork over, shut up your 
office, and go west. What do you say? ” 

Pilot, casting a glance through the window at 
Lynch, who was gently swinging the handcuffs 
to and fro, turned back into the room and leaned 
against the mantel, with his eyes cast down in 
thought. After a few minutes he slowly took off 
his coat and vest and produced a packet from a 
pocket in his flannel shirt, and, sitting down, 
opened it and displayed a number of United States 
bonds. 

“ Here,” he said, “ are bonds covering the 
amount I received, less about the sum I gave to 


A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. 245 

Barney. I can make that good at my room at 
Yosts.” 

Very well,” said Madison, examining the 
bonds ; “ this is about right ; I see you have not 
collected the overdue coupons.” 

“ No,” answered Pilot, “ the bonds are there as 
I bought them. I want a receipt stating that the 
one-half of the Rosedow money has been re- 
funded.” 

Barney,” said Madison, “ draw up a receipt. 
And if you,” turning to Pilot, “will put on your 
coat, we will adjourn to 501, and you can pay the 
balance due.” 

“ I would take it as a favor,” said Pilot, “ if 
you will not let it appear at the house that I am 
watched. I wish to conceal the matter from my 
relative, Mrs. Yost. You can accommodate me 
in this, I suppose ? ” 

“ Certainly,” said Madison ; and the party, fol- 
lowed by Lynch, who put up his handcuffs, 
walked down to Yost’s and entered the parlor. 
Pilot, requesting them to be seated, said he would 
go up and bring down the money. On reaching 
the upper floor, he went quickly to Rush’s room. 
Rush rose on his elbow, smiling, and asked : 

“ Well, have you stripped the greenhorn ? ” 

“ No,” answered Pilot bitterly, “ the greenhorn 
has stripped me, and will strip you in a few min- 
utes. He has a policeman in the parlor with the 
cuffs in his hand, ready for you. He has papers 


246 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


from Amsterdam, the consul, and the bank, and 
Barney has turned state’s evidence. You must 
pay back or run. It’s pay or prison. Give me 
your bonds, and I will try to save them. I can 
get out the back way.” 

“So can I,” answered Rush, springing from his 
bed and hurriedly dressing. “ Go down and hold 
them off ten minutes, and as much longer as you 
can. Help, and we will divide. Meet me at the 
Brooklyn ferry at midnight.” 

Pilot went to his room, and a moment after 
Barney entered. He had been sent to watch him 
and see that he did not communicate with Rush ; 
but Hollandahad stopped him in the hall; and the 
time lost in answering her questions concerning 
the presence of the policeman in the parlor was 
just sufficient to give the warning. Pilot packed 
a traveling bag and, taking what money he had, 
descended the stairs. 

“ Barney,” he said, depositing the bag behind 
the stairway in the lower hall, “ after I settle this 
matter, I intend to run down home fora few days 
to get out of the way of Hollanda’s questions, 
and to take a little rest. I am a good deal shaken 
up, and need it. Don’t say anything about this 
unfortunate business to any body, or it will drive 
me out of the city.” 

“ I will keep dark, Mr. Pilot,” answered Barney, 
“you may rely on it.” 

“ The bonds cost,” said Pilot on entering the 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


247 


parlor and seating himself at the table, “ within 
forty-six dollars of the amount I received. If you 
will calculate the interest on that sum to date, I 
will settle.” 

After Madison had made the calculation. Pilot 
went slowly over it and pronounced it correct, 
but objected to the rate. He thought the money 
was not yielding Mr. Decker over half the legal 
rate, and requested an abatement. Madison said 
the difference was insignificant, and he would not 
make a point of it ; and a calculation at the lower 
figure was made and again slowly examined by 
Pilot. Some thirty minutes had now been con- 
sumed since Rush had received the warning, and 
Pilot interposed no further delay. He paid the 
balance over and leaned back in his chair. 

Madison, calling on Barney and Lynch to follow 
him, ascended the stairs and knocked at Rush’s 
door. Receiving no response, he turned the knob 
but found it locked. Barney stooped down and, 
looking through the hole, announced there was 
no key in the lock. Mrs. Yost was called, and 
with her master-key turned the bolt, and they en- 
tered. The room was vacant, and presented evi- 
dence of hasty flight. A chair overturned, and 
the open trunk with its contents scattered near, 
told the tale. They descended to the parlor to 
question Pilot. He was gone, and his carpet-sack 
had disappeared from under the stairway. Madi- 
son despatched Barney and Lynch to the police 


248 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


station to give a description of Rush and have 
search made for him. He then sat down with 
Yost, who had just come in, and Mrs. Yost ; and 
in a few words advised them of the situation. 
Yost took up a morning paper, and, looking ov'er 
the shipping list, said : 

‘‘A steamer will leave at ten in the morning for 
Liverpool.” 

“ He will not risk that,” said Madison ; “ he will 
leave on a train, or more likely drive out and take 
a train at a country station.” 

“ I wouldn’t have believed it of Pilot,” said 
Hollanda, “only I remember he tried to get me 
to sell my bonds and buy an interest. What 
dreadful creatures men are, after all!” 

“You will find him hard to catch,” said Yost. 
“ I don’t believe any of us will ever lay eyes on 
him again. Does he owe us anything, Hollanda ? ” 

“ They are both behind some,” she answered, 
“ but I don’t mind that. What troubles me is their 
turning out so ; two such nice men ; it’s awful ! ” 

“Yes,” said Madison, “ he is smart. Where do 
you think it’s likely he would go ?” 

“To some other city,” answered Yost, “or 
maybe out West. He woa’t stop in the city 
long.” 

“ No,” said Madison, “ he is on his way out 
now ; but he won’t pass through any city nor 
travel far on the train ; he will fear the telegraph. 
If I were in his place, I would leave the city on 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 249 

foot, and keep to the mud roads. But he doesn’t 
know enough for that, being a city chap. They 
all take a train to get away quick. It is a mistake. 
It is not the bird that flies straight and far that 
gets away, but the bird that zigzags and takes 
short flights. Look at the snipe, the hardest 
bird to bag that flies. No, he will make the mis- 
take and run the risk of starting on a train ; but 
he is too sharp to stick to it long.” 

“ I think you are right about it, Mr. Decker,” 
said Hollanda; “ he is very intelligent, and knows 
well the dangers of the telegraph.” 

“ The mischief is,” said Yost, to know which 
road he has taken. You might stand a chance of 
finding him if you knew that.” 

Well,” said Madison, “ it strikes me I know 
which road he has taken ; and, if I wanted him, I 
would telegraph and have him arrested. But I 
don’t want him. I want the bonds he is carrying 
off, and, if they arrest him, he will hide them or 
buy himself free, and then they would be gone. 
No, I will interview the gentleman myself ; there 
are plenty of official rogues in the country besides 
cashiers and presidents of banks and companies.” 

Why, how you talk, Mr. Decker,” said 
Hollanda, in admiration. “ I verily believe he 
will find Rush, Alva, and I know he’ll find the 
bundle.” 

If I didn’t think I knew where to put my 
hand on him, Mrs. Yost,” said Madison, “ I 


250 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 


wouldn’t be sitting here talking, but would be out 
on the hunt for his trail. Suppose, madam, you 
had been suddenly frightened this morning, and 
had run off to hide ; where would you have gone ? ” 

“ Why, I would go to the Red Lion, of course ; 
that is, if those who were after me didn’t know 
it was my home. It is the quietest place to hide 
away in that I know of.” 

^‘And where would you hide, Mr. Yost?” 
pursued Madison. 

“ At the Lion,” he answered. “ That would be 
my first rush, though I might go on to Slugger’s. 
Raccoon is out of the way, and if it wasn’t for 
men dropping in there it would be about as soli- 
tary as the Lion.” 

But the - spirit at the Red Lion,” answered 
Hollanda, “ keeps everybody away. It’s the best 
place to hide in.” 

Very well,” said Madison, Rush knows the 
advantage of the Lion as a hiding-place as well 
as either of you do ; and he is on his way there 
now ; he may pass on to Slugger’s, but he will 
sleep to-night at one place or the other.” 

“You are a wonderful man,” said Hollanda. 

“ No, I am not,” said Madison ; “ I am simply a 
good hunter. When I rouse game in the moun- 
tains, I know where it will go ; and the sharper 
a man is the more like a wild animal he acts. 
This man is sick, and was suddenly scared up ; he 
has taken to the best hiding-place that is fresh in 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR, 251 

his mind, and not too far off. The minute he 
started, the Red Lion took possession of him and 
he couldn’t go to any place else if he tried ; but he 
will not try. If he should give me the slip at the 
Lion, 1 will track him over the hills to Slugger’s 
and nab him there. He is a wounded animal, 
madam, and I never took the trail of a wounded 
animal in my life that I didn’t get him.” 

“ When will you follow him?” inquired Yost. 

“ In the early morning train,” answered Madi- 
son. ‘‘He will be glad enough to lie in bed late 
in the morning.” 

“ I will go with you,” said Hollanda, “ and we 
will find the bundle. I can’t rest until the bundle 
is gone from the Lion.” 

When Rush had dressed quickly, after receiving 
the warning, he opened his trunk and took out a 
package of bonds and his ready money ; and, 
throwing out the rest of the contents on the floor, 
selected a few articles and packed them in a 
carpet-bag. He walked to the head of the stairs, 
and, looking over the railing, listened a moment ; 
then quickly descended and left the house by the 
back door. He passed up the alley on which the 
rear of the premises opened, and, on crossing the 
street, happened on a passing hack, which he 
entered, and was driven, under the impulse of a 
liberal fare, on a gallop to the Jersey City ferry. 
On the boat he bought a morning paper and 
examined the time-table. He found he would 


252 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

have a half-hour on the other side before the 
southern train left. On landing, he went to a groc- 
ery and bought and put in his bag some crackers, 
a can of potted meat, and a bottle of brandy ; 
and, taking a drink at the bar, he returned to the 
station, where he bought a ticket to Washington 
City, and took his seat in the car. When the 
train reached Baker Station, he got out and took 
the by-road that led to the Old Red Lion. 

While riding in the car, the excitement that had 
impelled him subsided, and as he walked out he 
became very weak. He was compelled to sit 
down by the road-side several times and resort to 
his bottle for strength to pursue his way. On 
reaching the Lion, he knelt down and took a long 
draught out of the water-trough, then walked 
round the building seeking an entrance. He 
found a narrow door that he remembered opened 
on a back stairway, and, getting a stick from the 
wood-pile, broke the lock and entered. Ascend- 
ing the stairs, he made his way through many 
winding and cross passages to the front porch, 
and entered the Rinemond chamber — the only 
furnished room in the inn — exhausted. He threw 
himself on the bed and groaned. A fever had set 
in, and he was racked with pain. His thirst 
became so great after a while that he rose and 
limped back, over the devious route he had come, 
to the water-trough. After relieving his thirst 
he hunted about for some vessel in which to carry 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


253 


to his room a supply of water. He found a greasy 
crock near the smokehouse, which he carried to 
the trough and cleaned with sand and water and 
filled. It was a labor to him to get it to his 
room. As the day wore away the fever left him 
and a chill came on. There was a pile of wood 
by the fire-place, and a bunch of matches on the 
mantel-shelf left on his previous visit. He rose 
from the bed and built up a fire ; and, drawing 
up a chair, sat down and bent over it with his 
hands spread out. As the night advanced the 
fear of the superhuman took possession of him, 
and he started at imaginary sounds, and glanced 
over his shoulder, and drew closer to the fire in 
affright at the shadows on the wall and the flicker- 
ing of the light about the room. Worn out with 
alarm and depression and pain, he heaped wood 
on the fire and got back into bed, covering up his 
head to shut out the visionary sights and sounds 
thaJ: tortured him. 

But he sought repose in vain. His feet had 
become swollen and inflamed, and the pain was 
so acute that it banished sleep, permitting only 
now and then a fitful slumber. All that was dis- 
agreeable in the recent past came to his mind in 
disconnected and successive scenes, while the old 
refrain — What is money ? What is money ? — 
interposed between. What a fool he was, he 
thought, to be duped by that country greenhorn 
with his shallow story of a rupture with the 


254 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


people at Rosedow. He ought to have known 
he was an emissary and meant mischief. But 
Pilot was to blame, for he had been taken in first 
and had helped deceive him. That fellow would 
follow him yet ; he was, after all, very smart to 
have succeeded in throwing dust in the eyes of 
two such men as himself and Pilot. Who could 
have imagined such a thing? He began to grow 
afraid of Madison as he thought it over. 
Presently, in a slumber, he was following the 
phantom of Rinemond through the winding pas- 
sages and up the stairs, wondering if they would 
take his shoes away that he had again slipped off ; 
and again he was looking through the hole in the 
ragged curtain into the strange chamber ; and 
woke himself repeating aloud his former ejacula- 
tion — “The Rinemonds, father and son!" He 
saw himself walking through the apartments of 
the dark cellar with a little boy, carrying a tiny 
lamp, by his side, who stopped at the open 
door of the wine-cave and pointed in at the bun- 
dle lying on the floor. When he went in to get 
it, the boy shut the door, and he again heard the 
bolt shoot to its place and a laugh from the boy 
outside. Then followed a violent altercation 
with Mirandy as to the amount of hire to be paid 
for Dandy and the damage for his disfigurement, 
in which he accused her of having hired Sam to 
maltreat the pony in order to secure damages. 
At last his mind wandered back to Fish Street, and 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


255 


he imagined Yost telling Madison of their adven- 
tures at the Red Lion, and advising him to go 
down in the morning train and hunt for him. 
Some real or imagined noise sounded to him like 
the opening of the front door, and he awoke and 
sat up in bed and listened. 

He might follow on the early train, he thought, 
if Yost had disclosed their former visit, and, if 
he had been with them at the time of his flight, 
nothing was more probable. He would get up 
early and go over the hills to Slugger’s, mount 
Dandy, and get Sam to guide him to a place of 
safety. But they might come down on a night 
train and be at the inn by daybreak, and arrest 
him before he woke up. The fear of this grew so 
strong that he got out of bed and, disregarding 
the pain in his feet, walked to the fire-place and 
drew the chunks together and started a blaze. He 
opened his carpet-sack and took out the package 
of bonds. 

I will do,” he muttered to himself, “ as Rine- 
mond did. I will hide my bundle ; and, if they 
come in the night and arrest me, they will not get 
it any way. I can come back and get it at some 
future time, or I can use part of it to fee my 
lawyer and perhaps to buy a juryman.” He rose 
from his chair, after attempting in vain to draw 
his socks on over his swollen feet, and walked to the 
door, without putting on his hat or coat, opened 
it and looked out, holding his bundle in his left 


256 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


hand, as — the thought occurred to him — the 
phantom had held his in traversing the lower hall. 
The night was dark; the fire within shed a 
radiance through the open doorway over the porch 
in front, and tipped the jagged ends of the broken 
railing with light. He paused a few moments, 
as if in doubt ; then, as if inspired by a sudden 
thought or determination, he stepped out and 
shut the door behind him, muttering, as he 
winced from the sharp pain in his feet. 

Old Slugger was right, for after all is said and 
done, What is money ? What is money ? ” 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


THE CASTLE MELTS INTO THIN AIR. 

T he pine forest that surrounded the Red Lion 
was enveloped in dense fog when Rush awoke 
at a late hour on the following morning. The tops 
of the tall dark trees on the hills here and there 
pierced it, and traced the contour of the basin in 
which lay the once famous tavern thronged with 
guests, and now, alas ! so fallen as to contain but 
one, and he a fugitive from justice. No lesson 
could teach more forcibly the instability of hu- 
man affairs than did the silent, and worse than 
guestless, old Red Lion as it thus lay voiceless 
and buried in the fog. 

Rush had returned to the room, after secreting 
his bonds, chilled, though his absence had been 
brief. He warmed his hands over the fire, and, 
after taking a stupefying dose of brandy, got into 
bed. The exposure of his feet to the cold or the 
stimulant seemed to have been beneficial, for soon 
after lying down the pain subsided and he fell into 
a profound sleep. His first act on arousing was to 
look at his watch. It had run down in the night. 
He knew the morning was approaching when he 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


258 

fell asleep, and felt that he had slept long and had 
no time to waste if he expected to get away before 
the arrival of pursuers by the early train. He made 
a hasty toilet, slitting his socks to get them on, 
and further protecting his feet by tying about 
them pieces of his handkerchief, which he tore up 
for the purpose. To get his feet into his shoes 
was impossible. The pain, as he moved about, 
returned with violence. He took a drink of brandy 
and a cracker or two, emptied his bag of the pro- 
visions to lighten his load over the hills, and, but- 
toning his vest, walked to the door in his shirt- 
sleeves and threw it open. He could see nothing 
for the fog, but in a moment heard steps on the 
porch below and the front door creak on its rusty 
hinge. His impulse was to secure his bonds, but 
the thought flashed on his mind that he might be 
caught with them on his person, and it was best 
to leave them hidden and return for them in case 
he escaped. Without turning into his room he 
hurried to the hall and looked over the banister. 
He saw Madison at the foot of the stairs with a 
pistol in his hand, beginning to ascend, and hurry- 
ing into a passage he made his way to the head of 
the narrow back staircase, descended and passed 
through the door that he had forced the day be- 
fore, crawled through the hole in the garden fence, 
and, entering the pathway that led over the Knob 
to Raccoon Hollow, disappeared in the fog. 

When Madison reached the top of the stairs he 


A CASTLE IN THE A IE. 


259 


walked out on the porch and up to the open door 
of the Rinemond chamber. One glance within re- 
vealed the situation. He turned back to the hall 
and called over the banister : 

“Come up, madam, there will be no pistol prac- 
tice here this morning ; it is put off on account of 
the fog ; the bird has flown.” 

“Good gracious!” said Hollanda, as they en- 
tered the room together, “ he’s gone off without 
his hat and coat.” 

“ He didn’t stand on the order of his going, as 
the poet says, madam,” observed Madison, look- 
ing about him, “but went at once when he heard 
the front door open. He has left, besides his hat 
and coat, his bag and lunch — and some very good 
brandy,” he added, as he poured out and swallowed 
a glass. “ I hope it’s not poisoned. It tastes all 
right ; shall I help you to a glass ? ” 

“ Thanks,” said Hollanda, “ none for me. He 
can’t have got far, Mr. Decker. Do you intend 
to follow him ? ” 

“ He is lost in the fog long ago, madam,” he 
answered, “and I am unacquainted with the road 
to Slugger’s. Even if I knew it I would not pur- 
sue him now ; he would throw the package in the 
bushes, and I might never get it. I think he has 
followed the example of his friend Rinemond and 
hidden his bundle, expecting to come back for it, 
and if so I am done with him, for he will never 
get it again. Madam, sit down, and after we rest 


26 o 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


from our walk we will look up the two bundles. 
The plot is decidedly thickening. I will examine 
the chimney first, and then kindle a little fire to 
drive out the fog.’’ With this he knelt on the 
hearth, and putting his head in the fireplace 
looked up. 

“ Nothing there, madam,” he said, putting on 
wood and kindling a fire. “ Many and many an 
old chimney was built with a hiding-place for 
money and papers, secure from the flame and 
smoke, and I am disappointed not to see one here, 
for this is a very old house. I will venture to say 
there is one in the chimney of the bedroom of the 
old gentleman who had this house built.” 

“ Look into his carpet-bag, Mr. Decker,” said 
Hollanda. “ Maybe the bonds are there.” 

“No,” answered he, “they are not there. If 
he didn’t hide them last night he has taken them 
with him.” 

“Alva still thinks,” she said, “that Mr. Rine- 
mond hid his bundle somewhere in the ground, if 
he brought it at all to the Lion. But last night 
he told me that he more than half believed he 
never brought it here, but gave it to some one to 
keep, or hid it elsewhere. ‘But,’ I said, ‘if so, 
why does his spirit haunt the Lion?’ ” 

“As to the spirit, madam,” said Madison, “I 
will say nothing, because I don’t pretend to un- 
derstand their ways ; but as to Rinemond giving 
the money to any one to keep, that is a mistake. 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


261 


When men run off with money, as he did, they 
carry it with them, depend on that. I wish I 
could persuade you to taste this fine French 
brandy. I feel quite grateful to Rush for having 
the politeness to leave it behind him. No, mad- 
am, Mr. Rinemond did not take his bundle into 
the yard and hide it in the ground. If he feared 
Mr. Yost would come to his room in the night he 
would have feared Mr. Yost would watch him if 
he stirred out. No, he hid it quite near where we 
are now sitting, probably not in the room, as it 
has been carefully searched, unless under a hearth- 
stone, and I see no sign of any of them having 
been moved.” 

He then rose and made a rapid examination of 
the flooring, cupboards, and bed and bedding. 

“ Madam,” he said, “ it is not in the room. 
Where did the little table stand on which he 
wrote his last letter? ” 

“ Where it now stands beside you,” she an- 
swered. 

Well,” said he, pushing his chair closer to it 
and facing the open doorway, now for the Rine- 
mond bundle. He sat here where I am now sit- 
ting,” he went on slowly, speaking aloud but to 
himself, and soon after writing that he feared 
an attempt at robbery, and intended in conse- 
quence to hide a bundle ; he broke off in the 
middle of his letter and laid down his pen. Why ? 
To carry out his purpose at once. Why at once ? 


262 


A CASTLE IN' THE AIR. 


Because as he was writing on another matter 
he was carrying the subject of hiding in his mind, 
and the hiding-place occurred to him. It was not 
in the room, but it was near the room, and he saw 
it as he came up with Yost in the evening. The 
door and window were open, and Yost, if watch- 
ing, could see his movements. Then he put out 
the light and went to bed. After a time, he rose 
from the bed and, taking the bundle in his hand, 
went out on tiptoe in his naked feet on the porch 
and hid it, and, as the night was dark perhaps 
slipped off the porch in doing so. Come,” he 
said, rising up and pointing with his forefinger to 
the rotten porch by the broken railing, and fright- 
ening Hollanda by his weird manner, “ it is there ^ 
between the flooring and the lath beneath.” 

Both were there ; the bundle of Rinemond and 
the bundle of Rush, and the country youth who 
had meditated and communed with nature in his 
native mountains triumphed over the sharp and 
cunning man bred in the city. 

As Madison drove up the next evening to the 
front of Rosedow, old Mr. Decker, bareheaded 
and followed by his daughter, ran down the steps 
to the carriage door and called out : 

‘‘ Did you recover any thing, Madie? ” 

The last dollar,” he answered, as he stepped 
from the carriage and saluted them. 

Great heavens ! What a genius ! ” said 
Decker. What a blessing ! Come in and tell 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


263 


US the whole story,” and the party walked into 
the library, the young couple supporting the old 
gentleman, who trembled with excitement. 

‘‘ Here,” said Madison, laying on the table 
before him as he took his seat, a package of bonds, 
“ is the principal, nearly, of which the sharpers 
robbed you — and here,” dropping a purse of gold 
on the package, “ is the balance in cash. I have 
kept my brag.” 

Della rose from her seat and going up to Madi- 
son, threw her arms about his neck and kissed 
him, and her father, covering his face, bowed his 
head and wept tears of joy. 

To the wedding that soon followed came the 
Deckers of Giles in full force, and with them the 
Lovat of Dounie come down from his mountain 
fastness to honor his pupil in the chase. Yost 
and Hollanda and Barney came up, and the 
. friends from the city, families Decker of Rosedow 
knew when in business, and the Bronsons and 
neighbors in the Highlands. A wedding trip was 
taken to Giles County, and among the picnics 
that came off in that visit was one to the castle, 
where the company were entertained on game in 
every variety, and at night with tales of the old 
lords of Lovat, especially of the one who was 
decapitated on Tower Hill. The paper at the 
Court House came out each week with glowing 
descriptions of the entertainments, picnics, fishing 
and boating, dancing and riding parties, and 


264 


A CASTLE IN TILE AIR. 


declared that all the men were envious of Madi- 
son and all the women of his wife, that the valor 
of the southern and the beauty of the northern 
Highlands had met, and now at last the North 
and South had shaken hands and fraternity would 
reign hereafter. 

Pilot kept the midnight appointment at the 
Brooklyn ferry and waited until two o’clock for 
Rush, uncertain whether he had been arrested or 
had made the appointment in bad faith. He 
strolled up-town with his sack in his hand and 
thought over, as he went, the best course for him 
to pursue. If he had not warned Rush, he 
thought he might have remained in the city un- 
molested and eventually have established a prac- 
tice and succeeded. He had duped the unhappy 
Deckers, it is true, and displayed great talent, and 
laid the foundation of a fortune ; but how miserably 
he had been duped in turn, and by a young fellow 
fresh from the country! It was too mortifying 
to contemplate, and he turned from the picture 
in disgust. Where would he go? He sat down 
on a step and thought. He might go down to 
Southwest Virginia and make a sale of stock to 
Madison’s father; and then go West. This was a 
pleasing thought ; but Madison had lied so in 
other matters, he had no doubt lied in representing 
his fatheras willing to buy an interest. No, there 
was nothing in it ; he had lied. His father, who 
had been so smart as to sell, would be too smart 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


265 


to buy. A policemen came by and ordered him 
to move on ; and he got up and walked toward 
his office. His mother had given him an old ring 
that his father had worn. He remembered that 
it was in the drawer of his desk, and he deter- 
mined he would go and get it, then take the 
first train out, and go into the unknown and il- 
limitable West, and grow up, as a recent editorial 
had suggested, with the country. If Barney was 
sleeping in the back room, he would wake him 
and learn what he knew of Rush. Thus meditat- 
ing, he turned into Fish Street and, avoiding 
the policeman, reached his office, unlocked the 
door and entered. He secured the ring and a few 
papers and letters, and tore up and burned others, 
and, taking up the lamp, went into Barney’s room, 
where he found that individual sleeping the 
sound sleep of one whose past record had been 
blotted out and forgiven. 

Barney,” he said, giving him a shake, “ wake 
up.” 

‘^Why, Mr. Pilot,” said Barney, “how you 
frightened me ! ” and sitting up in bed he added, 
“where is Mr. Rush?” 

“That,” answered Pilot, “is what I wish you 
to tell me. What do you know of him ? ” 

“We found him gone,” answered Barney, 
“ when we went to his room, and Mr. Decker, 
when we came down and found you gone too, 
laughed and said : ‘ Barney, you and Mr. Lynch 


266 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


go down to his chief and describe Mr. Rush and 
have him looked up.’ We went, and the chief 
said : ‘ If the gentleman wants him looked up, he 
had better come to the office himself and show 
some interest in the case and when we went 
back and reported Mr. Decker laughed and said : 
‘ Let the poor devil go,’ and paid Mr. Lynch fifty 
dollars, and told him he was ever so much obliged 
to him ; the thing was played out, and he had no 
further need of his services.” 

“ Did he say any thing about me ? ” inquired 
Pilot. 

Never mentioned your name,” answered 
Barney. 

“ Has he gone to Rosedow?” asked Pilot. 

“ No,” answered Barney, but he ordered me 
to have a hack at the door in the morning in time 
for the Jersey train, and Mrs. Yost is going with 
him, from what I overheard. I suspect they are 
going to the Red Lion, or what would she be 
going with him for? I suspect Yost has let out 
about our hunting for Mr. Rinemond’s bundle.” 

“ Did you and Rush go with him to the Lion ? ” 
inquired Pilot, in surprise. 

“ Why, bless your soul, yes,” answered Barney. 
“ That was what turned his hair white, but he 
swore me to secrecy, Mr. Pilot. I shouldn’t be 
surprised if they thought Mr. Rush has gone there 
or to Slugger’s to hide. Why, he knows the 
Lion and Slugger’s as well as Yost does.” 


A CASTLE IN’ THE AIR. 267 

“ Barney,” said Pilot, hold up your right 
hand.” 

“You needn’t swear me, Mr. Pilot,” said Bar- 
ney in alarm. “ I wouldn't do any thing to harm 
you ; I wouldn’t, indeed.” 

“ Do you solemnly promise, then,” said Pilot, 
“ not to mention having seen me until Mrs. Yost 
gets back to the city? I don’t ask much, you 
see.” 

“ I solemnly promise, so help me,” said Barney, 
partially raising his hand ; and Pilot bade him 
good-night and left the office. The day was 
breaking as he reached the Jersey ferry, and, cross- 
ing, he took a seat at a window of a saloon that 
commanded the entrance to the station, and saw 
Madison and Hollanda take the train. He fol- 
lowed in the succeeding one, alighted at Baker 
Station, and took the road to the Lion. The fog 
was beginning to lift as he approached it, and he 
saw Madison and Hollanda come out of the front 
door and lock it. He stepped into a clump of 
scrub pine to let them pass, and heard Hollanda 
say : 

“Now that you have found the Rinemond bun- 
dle, Mr. Decker, the ghost will quit the Lion.” 

“ He will be a very unreasonable ghost, 
madam,” her companion answered, “ if he doesn’t,” 
and they passed on. 

Pilot walked around the inn, and, seeing every 
access closed, took the path that led to Slugger's, 


268 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


crossed over Possum Knob, and had half-way 
reached his destination, when he heard to his 
right a voice call out : 

“ Pilot, by Jove ! ” 

He turned into the bushes, and saw Rush sit- 
ting on the ground, his feet swollen, and the 
strips of white linen about them stained red, his 
white head uncovered, and in his shirt-sleeves. 

“ Great heaven. Rush,” he exclaimed, “ what a 
spectacle you present ! ” 

“ I escaped by the skin of my teeth. Pilot,” he 
replied, “ and when I got this far I broke down. 
I couldn’t walk another step to save me.” 

“ Let me help you,” said Pilot, approaching. 

“ Not a bit of it,” he answered. “You would 
have to carry me every step. I can’t put a foot 
to the ground. Hurry on to Slugger’s and send 
Sam back with Dandy. I dreamed about Dandy 
last night. Good horse! I wish he was here 
now. Don’t stop to talk. Hurry up.” 

Pilot found Sam at Slugger’s paying court to 
Mirandy. She was very suave and complaisant. 
He had bought Wildcat Hollow and proposed, 
and been accepted, under oath to quit coon-hunt- 
ing forever. He mounted Dandy and galloped 
to the rescue of his benefactor, and brought him 
in in triumph, rejoiced to be of service. After 
mutual explanations. Rush said : 

“ I thought a good deal as I lay in the bush, 
Pilot, and here is what I have determined to do. 


A CASl'LE IN THE AIR. 


269 


If you will join, all right. If my feet are better, 
we will go to the Lion in the morning, I on 
Dandy, and Sam ahead as a spy. If that awful 
Decker youth has not found our bonds, we will 
take them and go West, and do the best we can 
with the money, with the understanding that we 
will refund to Decker of Rosedow principal and 
interest as soon as we have turned it over. As 
old Slugger said to Sam, ‘ What is money, that 
one should give up his peace of mind for it ? If 
we find luck has followed this chap to the end, 
and he has found the bonds I hid, we will go on 
to the station and take the train for the West any 
way, and go together into some honest business, 
and if we make no more than board and clothing, 
let it suffice it is as much as any one gets, after all. 
One can’t eat money or wear it, either. I am be- 
ginning to think there are some other things in this 
world of value besides a bank account, to say 
nothing of the next world where they neither 
make deposits nor draw checks. What do you 
say ? ” 

“ Amen ! ” responded Pilot ; and the next morn- 
ing, owing to an application of Miranda’s concoc- 
tion, the invalid was quite restored ; and, going 
over as arranged, Sam spied out and reported the 
coast clear, and they entered the inn and ascended 
to the porch. Rush put in his hand, and drew from 
under the floor an envelope, such as banks use in 
inclosing bonds, on which was printed the name 


2 70 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

of the bank of which Rinemond had been cashier. 
It was stained, and had evidently been exposed 
for a length of time, and was clearly the covering 
of the bundle hidden by that unfortunate man. 
On the clear and unstained portion of this paper 
was traced in pencil the following lines, which 
Rush read aloud : 

“ Mr. Madison Decker presents his compliments 
to Mr. Rush, and begs to inform him that he ab- 
stracted from this hole a few minutes after Mr. 
Rush’s hurried departure the Rinemond bundle 
and the Decker bonds. This to save his esteemed 
friend further trouble and anxiety.” 

“Resolved unanimously,” said Rush, as he tore 
up the envelope, and tossed the pieces through 
the hole in the railing, and watched them flutter 
into the trough below, “ that honesty is the best 
policy”; and the two adventurers took the train 
for the West, firmly resolved to make an honest 
record in the new land, bank account or no bank 
account. 

Advertisements in the city papers for the heirs 
of Cook, late cashier of the Bank of Defiance, met 
with no response ; and after the return of Madison 
from his wedding tour he came down to the city 
and held a consultation with the Yosts as to the 
disposition of the bundle. Hollanda said, when 
he introduced the subject : 

“Finders are keepers, Mr. Decker; the bonds 
are yours. The story Mr. Rush told Alva as 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


271 


coming from Rinemond himself, about his child- 
hood, I don’t doubt is true. The fact that no 
one answers your advertisement confirms it.” 

“ I have been to the bank, and they deny hav- 
ing lost any thing by him,” said Madison, “ and 
stick to their story that they knew he was going, 
and that he went out West. I wish you would 
divide the bundle with me ; it was found in your 
house, and is more money than I know what to do 
with ; and you helped to find it, and are entitled 
to half at least.” 

“ Neither Alva nor I will touch a dollar of it,” 
she answered. “ I couldn’t sleep in peace if either 
of us did. The ghost will not haunt you, for you 
are an innocent man ; but it would us, and we 
should deserve it. Keep the money, and say no 
more about it. I have sent Mr. Pilot’s things to 
his poor mother at Benvelt. She writes me her 
house is mortgaged, and she is in great distress.” 

She is your relative,” said he. ‘‘ I will go 
down on the morning train and pay off her mort- 
gage. You don’t object to that ? ” 

“ No,” she answered, that is charity. I can 
not scruple that.” 

And Barney,” he said, where is he? I must 
help poor Barney.” 

He is keeping the office at No. 10,” she an- 
swered, “ and being dunned for the rent. He tells 
them to wait until Mr. Pilot gets back, and ho 
looks each day to see him walk in,” 


272 A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 

“ I will go down and see him now,” said Madison, 
“and must set him up in business.” 

“ Barney,” he said, as he entered the office a few 
minutes later, “how goes it?” 

“ Bad, Mr. Decker,” he answered. “ Mr. Pilot 
hasn’t got back yet, and the house agent is dun- 
ning me to death for the rent. I can’t stand it 
much longer ; it’s using me up. And he threatens 
to sell our furniture and turn me out.” 

“ Pilot is not coming back, Barney,” said Mad- 
ison. “You helped hunt the bundle and shall 
profit by it. I will pay your board and lodging 
at Yost’s, and your office rent for a year or so, un- 
til you get business. Take Pilot’s room and keep 
the place. Have a sign painted, and go into real 
estate. Go back to the business you were trained 
in. Collect rents, and draw up papers, and attend 
to all branches of the business. I will ask Mr. 
Decker to turn over to you his rents to collect, 
and that will give you a start and a character. 
By the way, here are your Thaddeus and Outcalt 
bills of sale. Don’t do any more business for 
these gentlemen.” 

“ Never, so help me,” said Barney. “ I made 
one slip and was led into another, but I’ll die be- 
fore I make a third.” 

“ Good-by, Barney,” said Madison, handing 
him some money ; “ stick to that. Go pay your 
rent and order your sign. I’ll send you down a 
check from time to time, and will arrange with 


A CASTLE IN THE AIR. 


273 


Yost for your board and lodging, and first-class at 
that. Attend -to your business, and don’t turn 
the corner oftener than you can help. Good-by.” 

The estates of Raccoon and Wildcat were 
united. The widow Pilot was helped beyond the 
lifting of the mortgage for a year or two, when 
funds reached her from the West in amounts to 
free her from care and dependence. The real- 
estate business grew and flourished. The Deckers 
throughout the land were advised by letter and 
the public press that the “ Castle in the Air ” had 
vanished, and that from first to last it had been 
as baseless as the fabric of a vision. But nothing 
will ever drive from the imagination of the family 
the princely estate lying in the heart of the new 
city, or the piles of untold gold that cumber the 
vaults of the old bank. The articles written by 
Rush, and the letters of Pilot, will be handed 
down to succeeding generations ; and a long line 
of Pilots will lure them, one by one as they arise, 
in search of that edifice into which no heir will 
ever enter, and out of which no good will ever 
come. 


THE END. 





HANNIBAL OF NEW YORK. 

By Thomas Wharton, 

Author of “A Latter Day Saint.” 

Leisure Hour Series, $1.00. Leisure Moment Series, 30 cts. 

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 

“ The name alone ought to make the fortune of the book ; the wonder is that it has 
not been used before. It is a novel of New York and Newport, with much of the un- 
pleasantness of those marts about it, and a great deal of their human interest. It is 
clever, and will pay to read or to skim as the reader may have a leisure season or a 
leisure hour.” — Rochester Union. 

” There are horse races, yacht races, bank failures, excursions to Newport and 
Montana, suppers at Delmonico’s, and all the other diversions and dissipations which 
make up the routine of New York fashionable life.” — Cincinnati Times. 

“ A novel dealing with Wall Street and finance, entitled ‘ Hannibal in New York.’ 
Under all the gay life of a circle of millionaires are elements of tragedy that would do 
honor to a French drama. . . . The changing of the scene from New York to 

Newport and the whirl of fashionable life, all these are material of which ‘ Hannibal 
in New York’ is made.” — Boston Traveller. 

” It is written with no little cleverness and skill. One cannot but admit that the 
characters, disagreeable as the most of them are, are accurately drawn, and that Mr. 
Wharton has reproduced most accurately a certain phase of New York society.” — 
Washington Capital. 

” Mr. Wharton shows a deep insight into the motives of human action, and is not at 
all backward in picturing some phases of human nature as they are to be found, how- 
ever uncomplimentary to the race. It is a pleasing story, full of force, humorous at 
times, and striking in denouement. — Philadelphia Call. 

” An uncommonly clever novel, well written, and very nearly solves that much 
perplexing problem, the American novel, pure and simple. . . . The author has 

followed the modern realistic method, but having invention and a just sense of the 
claims of art, has provided an interesting plot, about which his characters revolve con- 
sistently. The satire is sharp, bright and just ; what is earnest in the book is strongly 
marked b^ sincerity ; the moral, though cynical, is skilfully painted, and there is vigor 
and force in the work as a whole that make it exceptionally attractive reading. It is 
by far the best fiction of the year that we have had from a native author.” — Boston 
Gazette. 

“The book is a well-written satire on life in some circles of Vanity Fair.” — The 
Critic. 

” Wall Street has its romance as well as Bar Harbor, if one only has the faculty for 
seeing it — a grim sort of romance, to be sure, something like that which Carlyle found 
in his ‘ Reality ; ’ but it serves well enough as a centre about which to group the 
actions and motives and accidents of the little knot of people whom one meets in Mr. 
Wharton’s pages. . . . Roger Lynton, the young fellow who had been AVest, whose 

rosy, free views of life were consequent upon youth and a good liver, is the only 
redeeming figure among them. The rest, from St. Joseph’s groom to the editor of his 
Review, are shining examples of the creed that makes all men strangers — that considers 
a fellow-man as merely an opportunity to make money. Mr. Wharton’s attitude in 
writing of such people is all that could be asked ; he is philosophic, humorous, satirical, 
never maudlin nor ranting, though now and then, perhaps, somewhat extravagant. He 
marks out the lines of his story liberally and skilfully ; there is no hesitancy or con- 
fusion about them. Nor, on the other hand, is there any attempt at subtle shading or 
sign of that delicate touch which suggests more than it expresses. St. Joseph’s 
brutality is very brutal, Cradge’s treachery very black, and Lynton’s animal spirits 
very lively. In fact, the story and the characters stand out with the emphasized 
actuality that a caricature often possesses.” — The Nation." 

HENRY HOLT & CO., Publishers, New York. 


MONCURE D. CONWAY’S NOVEL 


PINE AND PALM. 


LEISURE HOUR SERIES, Cloth, $1.00. 

The Brooklyn Eagle says : 

“ He gives a series of pictures of Northern and Southern life and 
character -which have not been surpassed, if equalled, since “ Uncle 
Tom’s Cabin.” And with these graphic pictures blends the atmos- 
phere of his philosophical cynicism, which again changes at times 
into the most human, religious and Christian of moods of faith . . 

The author, as if equally saturated with his native Virginia and his 
acquired New England traditions, delights in offsetting them, regard- 
less of matter of fact probability, though as to that, when was 
romance, which is the higher essence of life, ever probable ? ” 

The N, Y. Tribune says : 

An interesting and graceful story. . , His style is crisp, 

fresh and bright. He has a natural predilection for beauty, and likes 
to fill his pages with charming scenery and pretty girls. These 
preferences will probably not alienate the public from the novel, 
which is indeed well worth reading.” 

The Cincinnati Times- Star says : 

“ The descriptions are admirable, evidently the results of personal 
observation and deserving of serious study.” 

The Boston Times says : 

“ Singularly attractive, both in subject-matter and in the way of its 
relation. . . A series of intensely interesting occurrences which 

shape and decide the destinies of these young men. . . The plot 

is ingeniously worked out and from beginning to end there is nothing 
but interest. Everything is so charmingly told that the reader finds 
no time to pause for careful criticism, but hurries on with chained 
attention and at the end votes ‘ Pine and Palm ’ a delightful story. 
It is written in the frank and free spirit of to-day.” 

The Toronto Week says ; 

“Mr. Conway could hardly fail to write an entertaining novel. . . 
The whole is a healthy and genuine American production.” 

The London Saturday Review says : 

“ It describes a number of lively scenes and stirring events. . . 

Of this old life on the plantations Mr. Conway has drawn an amusing 
and apparently truthful picture.” 


M. D. CONWAY’S PINE AND PALM. Continued. 


The Pittsburgh Chronicle says : 

“ As a pulpit orator and writer for tlie press he has achieved a great 
deal of success which wjU serve in the first place to advertise his novel 
and also to influence all who are familiar with his pleasant literary 
style to take it up with curious interest. When they lay it down it 
will be with a sense of. satisfaction at time pleasantly spent. . . 

Well worth reading.” 

The Boston Transcript says : 

“ One of the best of the Leisure Hour Series is a novel in which 
Mr. Conway very successfully attempts to describe the condition of 
New England and the condition of the Southern states in the limes 
which immediately preceded the civil war. . . Mr. Conway has 

presented both sides of the vexed slavery question with great fairness. 
He does not shrink from exposing the horrors of slavery, but at the 
same time he gives an exceedingly truthful and attractive picture of 
Southern life and Southern hospitality.” 

The Edinburgh Scotsman says : 

“It is well and brightly written. Style and story are vivid and 
vigorous. The book thrills with genial sentiment and exalts the 
nobility of goodness.” 

The Home Journal says : 

“A story of the times before the war, when Webster and Clay 
were leaders in politics, when the abolition of slavery was beginning 
to array society in bitter opposition. This makes an impressive and 
comprehensive setting for a sketch of character and life, and good 
use of it is here made by Mr. Conway.” 

The London Athenceum says : 

“ Mr. Conway has produced an entertaining and clever story. . . 

His romance of North and South is inspired by warm and sympathetic 
philanthropy, and leaves pleasant impressions behind it.” 

The Charleston News and Courier says : , 

“ An attractive novel. . . The sketches of life and manners on , 

the plantations in the low country of South Carolina are veryf 
pleasant reading.” 

The Churchman says : • 

“ ‘ Pine and Palm ’ is worth reading, and that is saying a good deal 
when one remembers the vast quantity of novels crying for readers,” 


HENRY HOLT & CO., Publishers, 

NEW YORK. 


OBLIVION 

AN EPISODE 

— BY — 

M. G. McClelland. 

16MO LEISURE MOMENT SERIES. 30 CT3., 
LEISURE HOUR SERIES, $1.00. 

PRESS NOTICES. 

FROM THE CRITIC. 

One half-iesents the acknowledged likeness to “Called 
Back” ill feeling how great is the unlikeness, and how 
superior the American story. The thrilling central idea oi 
“Oblivion” is worked out so beautifully, with such naturaj 
and such artistic touch, and the whole plot is set in such a 
frame of delicate and charming work, that the treatment goes 
for more than the subject, although the reader is certainly 
absorbed in finding out the result. 

“ M. G. McClelland could have passed for a man in the 
literary world as easily as Miss Murfree did ; for her work 
shows the same keen strength and appreciation of manly 
situations and manly feeling which disguised “Craddock’s” 
personality for so long. It is, perhaps, the dealing with 
mountaineer life which suggests Craddock so quickly, and the 
new author does not suffer by the comparison. The conver- 
sations, while perfectly natural, are full of a rough romance 
that suggests the skill of George Eliot in putting the sharpest 
wisdom and the most poetic poetry into the mouths of the least 
cultivated of her men and women. 

“ Though the great charm of the book is in wise, or witty, or 
tender touches like these, there is quite enough story to the 
plot to keep the reader in quivering suspense as well as 
delighted enjoyment.” 

FROM THE N. Y. TRIBUNE. 

“ The story is remarkable for its direct and rapid narrative. 
♦ ♦ * * Admirable for poetical spirit. * * * * ^ very 
natural and delicate exhibition of noble character.” 

FROM THE NA TION. 

“ So freshly and delicately outlined as to give it the charm 
of an idyh * ♦ * * So touches the sympathy of ihe reader 

foVKRh 


that the conclusion comes as a positive pain. * * * * There 
is in the book such a power of imagination so bent on hign 
things, so touched to fine issues, that we are fain to dwell on 
the promise of a future which shall add to the present ability a 
trained artistic skill. ” 

FROM THE LITERARY WORLD. 

** Shows Striking ability, and ability of a high sort. Fresh 
and vigorous in handling, with a certain unexaggerated force 
of feeling as well as expression, and real picturesque power, it 
stands head and shoulders above the rank and file of ordinary 
fiction.” 

FROM THE N. Y. TIMES. 

“ A very good story, written with true feeling and pathos. 

* * * * The author has shown no small skill.” 

FROM THE BOSTON ADVERTISER. 

“ Dick Corby n is a genuine creation. * * * * Told in a way 
to win one’s sympathy and liking.” 

FROM THE HARTFORD CO UR A N’T. 

** Adds another to the long list of good ‘ Leisure Hour 
novels.” 

FROM THE HOME JOURNAL. 

“ A most fascinating story related in a masterly manner. 

* * * * The novel possesses a literary charm, which of itself 
would hold the reader enthralled, even if the narrative were 
less interesting than it is.” 

FROM THE N. Y. STAR. 

“An admirably constructed story. * * * * Wrought out 
with not only great skill and delicacy in the texture, but with 
remarkable psychological insight. The character of Dick is a 
conception of great power, in the portrayal of which genuine 
pathos and tragedy are displayed.” 

FROM THE PHILADELPHIA CALL. 

“An American romance of much power.” 

FROM THE BALTIMORE AMERICAN. 

** K story of genuine strength and interest.” 

FROM THE LYNCHBURG ADVANCE. 

“ The most original, natural and entertaining work of fic- 
tion that we have read for years. ” 

FROM THE NEW CHURCH MESSENGER. 

“Full of vigorous life, not without touches of tender 
pathos.” 


HENRY HOLT k CO,, PnMers, 29 W. 231 St.. New Yorfc 


THE ONL Y A UTHORIZED EDITION OF 


HUGH CONWAY’S WORKS 

8 Vols. of Novels and Tales by the late F. J. Far gits, 

x6ino, Leisure Hour Series, (Cloth,) $8.00 per set. 

i6mo, Leisure Moment Series, (Paper Covers,) $2.25 per set. 


CALLED BACK. 

A Novel. Clothe $1.00. Paper ^ 25 Cents. 

“ A remarkable novel. It is admirably written, the scenes are 
powerful and thrilling, its plot shows a wonderful imagination, not 
running wild, but trained to sustained work ; it is intensely inter- 
esting, and no one can say that the peculiar mental or spiritual ex- 
periences related are impossible .” — Boston Advertiser. 

“The descriptions of Siberia give one the impression that they 
are painted from life .” — Boston Transcript. 

“ Mr. Conway’s style is neat and tersely descriptive .” — The Inde^ 
pendent. 


DARK DAYS. 

A Novel. Cloth, $x.oo. Paper, 25 Cents, 

“ Whoever reads the brief introductory words of Basil North, is 
sure to read the whole narrative of his ‘dark days .’” — Boston 
Home Journal. 

“ Its thrilling interest is maintained to the end, and the situa- 
tions are chiseled, as it were, into relief, with all the strong con- 
ception and delicate handling of the most finished workman.” — 
Boston Advertiser. 

“ The reader’s attention is held as by a spell through every page 
working up to the powerful dramatic climax.” — N. Y. World. 


BOUND TOGETHER. 

Twelve Tales. Cloth, $1.00. Paper, 30 Cents. 

The Secret of the Stradivarius ; Fleurette ; A Cabinet Secret; 
The Bandsman’s Story ; The Blatchford Bequest ; Mv First 
Client ; Our Last Walk ; Miss Rivers’ Revenge ; The 
Daughter of the Stars ; In one Short Year ; 

The Truth of it ; and A Speculative 
Spirit. 

“ Told with a graphic force that fascinates even while it appalls.” 
— Boston Transcript. 

“ It is a positive pleasure to take up a book in which, as in this, 
strange sweet odors and mysterious music take on again their old 
importance in fiction.” — Boston Advertiser. 

“ A Cabinet Secret is charming, and alone worth the price of the 
book.” — Critic. 

[OVER.] 


HUGH CONWAY’S NOVE-L3.— Continued. 

CARRISTON’S GIFT, ETC. 

Six Tales, With Illustrations and a Portrait of the Author, 
Cloth^ $1.00, Paper^ 30 Cents. 

Carriston’s Gift • Chewton Abbot ; Paul Vargas, A Mystery ; A 
Dead Man^s Face ; Julian Vanneck ; and The Bichwa. 

“ The Bichwa is almost like a bit from Poe or Hawthorn.” — The 
Critic, 

“ Holds the attention equally by the dramatic intensity of the 
stories and by the picturesqueness of style in which they are re- 
lated.” — Boston Gazette. 


A FAMILY AFFAIR. 

A Novel, Clothf $1.00. Paper ^ 30 Cents. 

Worthy of lasting favor. More than good.” — Critic. 

“ The book is intensely absorbing from the first chapter to the 
last.” — Boston Transcript. 

“ It shows a pleasant sense of humor.” — Springfield Republican. 


SLINGS AND ARROWS, ETC. 

Four Tales. Cloth^ $1.00. Paper ^ 30 Cents. 

“Slings and Arrows,” “The Story of a Sculptor,” “At What a 
Cost I ” and “ Capital Wine.” 

“ Short and entertaining stories of the ingeniously thrilling kind.” 
—The Critic. 

“Hugh Conway is the most dramatic of all modem writers of 
fiction.”. — San Francisco Bulletin. 

“Full of wit, dramatic situations and tragic scenes.” — New 
Haven Journal. 


A CARDINAL SIN. 

A Novel. Clothy i.oo. Paper ^ 30 Cents. 

“ It is fair to say that ‘ A Cardinal Sin ’ would have an audience 
even if ‘ Called Back ’ had not piqued the curiosity of the great 
reading public.” — N. Y. Star. 

“ The reader can find no page that is dull.” — Philadelphia 
Bulletin. 

“ It is indeed a most fascinating story.” — Chicago Inter-Ocean. 

“ Full of graphic description, brisk movement and strong situa- 
tion.” — San Francisco Bulletin. 


LIVING OR DEAD. 

A Novel. Clothy $1.00. Paper, 25 Cents. 

“ A well told story * * * skillfully devised and elaborated.” 
N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 


HENRY HOLT & CO, PllllMers, 29 W, 231 St, New Yort 


BOOKS ON RUSSIA. 

RUSSIA. By D. Mackenzie Wallace, M.A., Member of 
the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. i2mo. $2.00. 

“ One of the stoutest and most honest pieces of work produced in our time, 
and the man who has produced it . . . even if he never does any thing 

more, will not have lived in vain.” — Fortnightly Review. 

A WINTER IN RUSSIA. By Theophile Gautier. 
Translated from the French by M. M. Ripley. i2mo. $1.75. 

‘‘ The book is a charming one, and nothing approaching it in merit has been 
written on the outward face of things in Russia. . . . He sees pictures 

where most people find mere dead surfaces, and where common eyes find the 
tint of a picture, he constructs a complete work of art.” — Nation. 

BURIED ALIVE ; or. Ten Years’ Penal Servitude in Siberia. 
By Fedor Dostoyeffsky. Translated from the Russian by 
Marie von Thilo. l2mo. Cloth, $1.50. Paper, 25 cts. 

** There can be no question whatever that the author has recorded his 
own experience and observation.” — N. Y. Evening Post. 

IVAN TURGENIEFF’S RUSSIAN NOVELS. 

i6mo. (Leisure Hour Series), $1.00 each. 

” In our opinion he is equal to any living novelist ; or, if that estimate 
be disputed, he is at any rate one of the greatest, and on that account his 
writings demand attentive consideration.” — Nation. 

Fathers and Sons. Translated by Eugene Schuyler. 
Smoke. From the autlior’s French version by Wm. F. West. 
Liza. Translated by W. R. S. Ralston* 

On the Eve. Translated by C. E. Turner. 

Dimitri Rondine. Translated from the author’s French and 
German versions. 

Spring Floods. Translated by Sophie M. Butts. And 
A Lear of the Steppe. Translated by Wm. Hand 
Browne. Together in i vol. 

Virgin Soil. Translated from the French version, by T. S. 
Perry. 

Annals of a Sportsman. Translated from the authorized 
edition, by F. P. Abbott. 


HENRY HOLT & CO., Publishers, New York. 


■Hf r 


V 




J 










> ) 


Yv> ‘>‘r 


&,2?j*5f"-'-' 


■I 




I 


1] 


A; 


* f 


‘•F ' t 


'1 I I 


f •*! '. I'* 


B 


rt 


!« 




i! 




■’V-: "'v :- 


It 


iir 


irr 


.,. ."•B. I 

. * • • ’ * A 

^ _ ♦ . , i .. I 


• s 


h ’ ' ' ■ f ,. T 

r ' . ,,^V*' K/ 




?l 


«• I 


Vi 


'#•' 


:-* 4 


#j 




h , V 


^ ks 


/ i 


1^, 


«l 

. ’»■ 








:kf 










‘m\ 


•' 'tv'’ 









* n . ^{ j ; ' ^ ' y • • 




• \ 


i.\ 


.1 


•• ‘.Jh'. 







^ c- 





i-’! 


/ 



fcl '- - ''■■■'' Swv -^.-*, 

:> n ,;-,^; --^ .> 5 -- 1 ^ i . f ? 

» .'■* .fc -*'' 



#r v» » *, "^ • 

••^' *..«-• 





* .• 


•. * ' • '. 




f ■ • 


» » ^ 


r- •. i- / 





k -.r ’. 


- *. rk ► . - . 
^ . * 


s ' ‘‘ir 

■ V* ' - '' 

I’-v- ;: ;^•’ 

' . s 

« •'' .» ' - 


•■'■ .c- 

s ' V 

*4 

V ‘ ^ 

• 

y * 

* ‘ 


\ . 
t . 

'•,- :7 ; 

» 

• ‘ • * • 

t 

( 

-■ w-'! 

— • 

>' U': 

> .-r* 

t 




•i’ 






I 

•.Spi 


» • 


#¥,■’’• •" 4v ■-■^-••2^ .; 

,- *_ * » ■ < V , <r • • • ^ 


I 

\ - 


- 


^ V .’ . fc. . ■ “ '•, V ,_ I- . 1 * • . 

•} r /-.,- . '< f - 

■ «* * “ \ • . y •'•, ■* •»**« *■'*'* '• ■ • 

w - V ’ ' A " r . ' ^ •;-: » • ’•^ '• V -H 


\.V*: 


. < 


'•> 


';^r 


4 • 

■ ■^. 

■ • » 




«t> A 


s 

■ ^ 

* / 



• •>■ V ... , 

' *•■ ’ >'- .'•■i 'S? ••• . 




*r •’» 


■ \ ■' '-" S ' ■' : ;■ i 



■ . 


I*, .> 


<.-■ • 

r 


- f 






S ' • 


4 * 


/ 


. % 


•* * • 
_ * 
■v » ' 


■ ‘ 

'■*' iJ- 


• f.r •« 


A » 






. V '. - 

^ . v • ‘ A. 


.* •‘-if • It 

4 ■ A ' 4 

V it >. 

. ' '■ ■‘^#' 


i */• , 1 » . U , %. M • ' . • • 

^ /’...■' . - ■- ’-c: A ,.. ^ A' 


y ■•' i *• .... . "'C / 

^ - 4^1* ’ » ' 


;a j 

.• T 


• ^ 


. < 




A . w \ :,j *- . ■ 



-.Ar-? 



• I • “< • • • ^ AlHi 

■ !4.^ • 


* * A * \ A 

•iiCv. <A' ‘ 


, .'I 
»■< 


■> 


• I 

• » v '. 



• •■> 


Pr 7.' 

• .y 

... 




* i * 

L 


r V 

. $ 


/ ^ 

I » 


K * 


■ ‘ : Wt ^/' ' 4 ^^ ■?- -v 

• .. \ % , , i / ’kj I ./•-•' Ti 

^ A • * • • ’ ^ A Vt * • . .V ■ *• . 

. -- V-' 

> Ar ;/;* c - V'’'MV • ^ 


V . 


; u . 


/. » 


■ r 

• • ; 


( 

» 

■i • ■•» 

.'t 


•. jf . 
* • • 

■ » 


* /*y 


ii 


• I 


S’ 



■-■ **’ *" -•• i '■.'•X : ^ ; 

' - /. ».♦.■/ ■ : *■ , jt f / 

. j . . - _ . • . ■ ■ • 


« 




*r* 

i' 


V-:V|.A 


w \ 

t 


•. :»'*: :.lLi 


^ J .. . • V - * ^ ’ ■* 

’ ' r *' • 

~ L V . - ^ I* 

: '..-♦j • iV'-.Ai 



'■'vi 


. \ 


, ■r- w-'j« >, 





LARNED’S (AUGUSTA) VILLAGE PHOTO- 
GRAPHS. 12nio. fl.76. 

MAINE’S POPULAR GOVERNMENT. 


Four Essays. L Prospects of Popular Government. II. Nature of 
Democracy. III. Age of Progress. IV. Constitution of the 
United States. 8vo. $2.75. 

“ By his literary brilliancy, by his breadth of view, by his Infinitive suirirestlve- 
ness, exactly meets the taste of the time.”— 2’7i43 Nation, 


SOUTHERN SILHOUETTES. 

By Mrs. J. H. Walworth. 13mo. Cloth. $1.25. 

MEMOIRS OF ARTHUR HAMILTON, B.A., 

Of Trinity College, Cambridge, By his friend Christopher Carr, 
of the same college. 12mo. Cloth. $1.50. 

The biography of a pious and sensitive soul struggling with the ques- 
tions between religion and modem thought, and leading a life of 
rare beauty and usefulness in the face of all perplexities. 

SUMNER’S PROTECTIONISM. 

The -Ism which Teaches that Waste makes Wealth. 16mo. $1.00. 

DE BACOURT’S SOUVENIRS OF A DIPLO- 
MAT. During the Administrations of Van Buren, Harrison, 
and Tyler. 12mo. $1.50. 

volume * « * a winsome, amusing and sometimes instructive 

contribution * * * we commend this entertaining diary .” — The CHtic, 


JOHNSON’S (H. K.) OUR FAMILIAR SONGS, 

And those who made them. 300 Songs with Piano accompaniment, 
and sketches of their composers. A new edition. 8vo. $3.00. 


SYMONDS’ RENAISSANCE IN ITALY. 

The first 5 vols. 8vo. $2.00 per vol. 

Part I.— Age of Despots. Part II.— The Revival of Learning. Pai-t 
ni.— The Fine Arts. Part IV. — Italian Literature. 2 vols. 

Part V.— The Catholic Reaction, 2 vols. 8vo. $3,50 per volume. 


ROUMANIAN FAIRY TALES. Square 12mo. $1.25. 

“ Delightful wild stories of fancy.”— 5o.s‘ton Advertiser. 

“ While they will astonish as well as amuse young people, they will teach 
them lessons as good as those of ./Esop’s Fables.”— Philadelphia Bulletin. 


HOLLAND’S RISE OF INTELLECTUAL LIB- 
ERTY. From Thales to Copernicus. 8vo. $3.50. 


HENRY HOLT <& CO., Publishers, 29 W. 23d Si., New York. 


FYFFE’S HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE. 

\ol. II., from 1814-1848. Large 12mo. $2.50. 

HOW TO MAKE A SAINT; 

Or, The Process of Canonization in the Church of Engiand. Bv the 
Prig. 16mo. $1.00. 

THE VENERABLE BEDE. 

Expurgated, Expounded and Exposed. By the Prig, author of ‘‘The 
Life of a Prig.” 16mo. $1.00. 

THE LIFE OF A PRIG. 

By One. Uniquely bound. Cloth. 16mo. $1.00. 

“ One of the smartest little books of the season.”— xV. F. Tribune, 

“ Smartly imagined and smartly written.”— London AtJieneimi. 

“ Some of the acutest and wittiest satire of recent years.” — K. Y. Conimei'cicil. 

A BACHELOR’S BLUNDER. 

By.W. E. Nonius, author of Matrimony,” etc. 8vo. Paper. 50 cts. 

AFTER HIS KIND. 

By John Coventry. Leisure Hour Series. $1.00. 

“ By all odds the best novel of the season.”— LaZ^imore Sun. 

PRINCESS. 

By M. G. McClelland. Leisure Hour Series, $1.00. Leisure 
Season Series, 50 cents. 

OBLIVION. 

By M. G. McClelland. Second Edition. Leisure Hour Series, $1.00. 
Leisure Season Series, 50 cents. A i>owerful and pictnresfiue 
love tale, laid in the mountains of North Carolina. It has been 
enthusiastically and unanimously praised by the critics. 

A FORTNIGHT IN HEAVEN. 

An Unconventional Romance. By Habold Bkydc4ES. 12mo. $1.25. 

TAINE’S FRENCH REVOLUTION. 

Translated by Jorrx Durand. Vol. III. 12mo. $2.50. 

REPRESENTATIVE GERMAN POEMS. 

Ballad and Lyrical. Original Texts, with English versions. Edited bv 
KAfiL Knortz. 8vo. $3.50. 

AUSTIN DOBSON’S POEMS. 

AT THE SIGN OF THE LYRE. Square 12mo. $2.00. 
VIGNETTES IN RHYMS. Square 12nio. $2.00. 


HENRY HOLT & CO., Publishers, 29 W. 23d St, New York. 



